Cannonballs Coming: Tyler Eppler throws seven shutout innings

Altoona and Morgantown were off.

-- Indianapolis lost to Norfolk, 9-5.  Chris Volstad struggled, allowing six runs, four of them earned, on nine hits and four walks in five innings.  Frank Herrmann, who's seen time in the majors with Cleveland and was recently released by the Angels, made his debut with the Pirates, striking out three of the four hitters he faced.  Dan Gamache was 3-5 with a double, Gorkys Hernandez 2-4 and Josh Bell 2-5.  Alen Hanson went 0-3 and Willy Garcia 1-4.

-- Tyler Eppler (pictured) threw seven scoreless, two-hit innings as Bradenton blanked St. Lucie, 5-0.  Eppler walked one and struck out five.  Justin Maffei and Jeff Roy each had two hits.  Austin Meadows went 1-5, Reese McGuire 1-4 and Harold Ramirez 1-2.

-- West Virginia lost to Lexington, 4-2.  The Power failed to take advantage of ten hits.  Jordan Luplow was 2-2 with two walks, and Connor Joe and Tyler Filliben each 2-4.  Kevin Newman went 1-4.  Starter Alex McRae gave up four runs on a dozen hits in five and a third innings.

-- Bristol edged Bluefield, 2-1.  Trey Supak bounced back from a bad start, allowing one run over three innings on two hits.  He walked none and struck out two.  Neil Kozikowski followed with three scoreless innings, fanning four.  Scooter Hightower threw the final three innings, fanning six.  Hightower now has 47 strikeouts in just 40 innings.  The Pirates had only four hits, three by Jordan George.  Carlos Munoz was 0-3.

-- The GCL Pirates split a doubleheader with the Yankees2.  The Bucs took the first game, 4-0, in a continuation of play from two weeks ago.  The teams originally got in one scoreless inning.  Nick Economos started the original game, but Chris Plitt took over when play resumed, throwing five scoreless innings.  He gave up two hits and a walk, and struck out three.  Adrian Valerio went 1-2 with a double and Ke'Bryan Hayes 1-3.  Michael De La Cruz had a triple.

The Bucs dropped the second game, 7-1.  They managed only four hits, with De La Cruz getting another triple and Hayes going 1-2.  Ike Schlabach's second pro outing didn't go as well as the first.  He lasted two and a third innings, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out one.