Patriots Come From Behind To Defeat Blasters

The Somerset Patriots (3-4) came back in late innings to defeat the New Jersey Blasters (4-3) by a score of 4-3 in Saturday’s game, the seventh matchup of the Somerset Professional Baseball Series.

In the battle of big-league veterans between Blasters’ Vin Mazzaro and Patriots’ Mark Leiter Jr., the Blasters struck first as Tommy McCarthy plated one run on a double in the second inning before Luis Roman added another run with a double in the third.

The Patriots' first run of the ballgame came on a Scott Kelly groundout which scored Connor Justus in the fifth, and the Blasters followed with another run in the top of the sixth on a Zach Racusin single.

Trailing 3-1, the Patriots bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and second, Joey Rose singled to score one run. Sean Guida then plated two with a fielder's choice and an error bringing the Patriots ahead by one.

James Pugliese clinched victory and earned the save in the top of the seventh. Nate Roe earned his second win of the season while Sean Keselica suffered the loss.

The Somerset Professional Baseball Series presented by Ford will continue on Sunday, August 9th with a rescheduled 6:05 pm game between the Somerset Patriots and the New Jersey Blasters at TD Bank Ballpark. This weekend’s games are presented by RWJBarnabas Health, the Official Health Care Provider of the Somerset Patriots. For more information, please visit www.somersetpatriots.com.