GREENSBORO -- After closing the first half of the season by winning three in a row and six of their last eight games, the Greensboro Grasshoppers took a four-run lead into the ninth inning and seemed poised for their first four-game winning streak of the season.
Instead, they gave up eight runs in the ninth inning, rallied for three in the bottom half of the inning but fell short for an 11-10 loss to the West Virginia Power Thursday night at NewBridge Bank Park.
West Virginia loaded the bases on three straight walks to open the ninth, the last of which was served up by closer Pete Andrelczyk.
Erik Huber hit a two-run double and a wild pitch by Andrelczyk cut the lead to one.
After a walk to Calvin Anderson, the Home Run Derby winner in this year's All-Star game who homered back in the second inning, Quincy Lattimore delivered the big blow with a three-run triple. Lattimore was out at the plate as he tried to advance when the ball got past catcher Kyle Skipworth, but Andrelczyk backed up the play perfectly.
The next two runners got on base and then Andrelczyk induced a comebacker for what could have been an inning-ending double play. Instead he threw it into center field, where Isaac Galloway let the ball get past him all the way to the warning track and three more runners crossed the plate.
The Hoppers did not go down without a fight in their half of the ninth.
Greensboro got its first two batters on via walks. With two outs, Justin Jacobs delivered a two-run double.
Manager Darin Everson got ejected for arguing a non-call with the umpires, who did not immediately call for a relief pitcher when West Virginia manager Gary Green went to the mound for the second time in the inning.
"He had two visits," Everson said. "On the second visit they need to automatically bring the pitcher in and they did not go get the pitcher. They ran a pitcher out there to get ready."
Pitching coach Charlie Corbell indicated new pitcher Owen Brolsma was not even up when Green went out to the mound for a second time. "(The umpire) let him throw about 10 pitches," Corbell said.
Both Everson and Corbell said the umpire gave no explanation for the non-call. However, they needed to protest immediately and the duo were too stunned by the umpire's actions to file the necessary grievance.
"I just can't believe he didn't do it," Everson said.
Even with the disputed warm-up tosses, Brolsma walked ninth-place hitter Daniel Pertusati. Galloway reached on an error to load the bases, and then Paul Gran beat out an infield single to bring the Hoppers within a run.
But Jeremy Synan grounded out to end the game.
The Hoppers used a six-run seventh inning in which only one hit left the infield to take a 7-3 lead. The inning began when Justin Bass led off with a hit by pitch. After a walk to Jacobs, Pertusati laid down a sacrifice to put the tying run in scoring position.
It looked like Galloway would tie the game at 3-3, but shortstop Adenson Chourio made a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield, with only one run scoring.
Gran hit a tailor-made double play ball, but instead of being out of the inning with only one run scored, a fielding error by second baseman Danny Bomback, who has played six positions in his three seasons in the minors, opened the flood gates.
Jacobs led the Hoppers with three runs and three RBIs. Galloway and Gran had two hits and two RBIs apiece.
WEST VIRGINIA GREENSBORO
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|
AB | R | H | BI | AB | R | H | BI | |
| McClune rf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Galloway cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Grossman cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gran ss | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Huber 1b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Synan lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Anderson dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Lasater 1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Latimore lf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Smolinski 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Spain 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Skipworth c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Walker c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bass rf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bomback 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Jacobs dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chourio ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pertusati 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 36 | 0 | 8 | 0 | Totals | 35 | 5 | 14 | 4 |
|
West Virginia |
012 | 000 | 008 | -- | 11 | |
| Greensboro | 000 | 010 | 603 | -- | 10 |
|
West Virginia |
ip | h | r | er | bb | so |
| De Los Santos | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Aguero | 11/3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Krol | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ortiz W, 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Martinez | 2/3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Brolsma S, 2 | 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Greensboro | ip | h | r | er | bb | so |
| Koehler | 6 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Yecker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Jennings | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Andrelczyk L, 0-2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
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