Regensburg Legionäre IV could not overcome a 9-run third inning as they lost their 2012 season opener on Sunday 14-11 at Passau Beavers.
Travis Gaug collected a team-high three hits at the plate but surrendered as pitcher all nine runs in the third inning. And it was too much for Markus Spangler’s team to make up.
“We won every inning except the third. For our first game we have to be happy about that,” said the Regensburg manager, whose team had more hits and fewer errors than Passau.
Regensburg opened the game with a run in the first as Gaug singled and was driven in by Bobby Flynn. And the Legionäre doubled the lead 2-0 with a run in the top of the second with Benedict Ott coming in on Eric Schäfer’s ground out.
After striking out the side in the first, Gaug gave up a home run to start the second before striking out two more Beavers for a 2-1 Regensburg lead after two frames.
Regensburg’s first five batters reached base in the third with Andre Koos driving in one run, Tom Krüger knocking in two runs and Schäfer grounder making it a 6-1 Regensburg lead.
Passau however found every hole in the Regensburg defense, including a loaded bases-clearing double to make it 6-5. Gaug struggled to find the strike zone with four walks in the inning – including three straight – and his defense let him down with two errors. In total, the Beavers scored nine runs and sent 14 players to the plate – with just three hits – for a 10-6 lead.
Neither team scored in the fourth inning, and the Legionäre trimmed the margin to 10-7 with Flynn coming home when Schäfer reached on an error.
But Passau got the run back in the second inning of work for new pitcher Thomas Münster to make it 11-7 after five innings.
Regensburg stormed back in the top of the sixth with four runs to tie the game 11-11. David Keilhauer started the inning with a double and Gaug added his third single while Koos drove in his second run of the game.
The game was close to exceeding the allotted time and Regensburg knew they could not allow a run to get to the seventh inning. But Münster walked two and hit a batter to load the bases with no outs. After a Münster strikeout, Passau scored what proved to be the game winner as Gaug’s throw from shortstop was not quick enough to the plate to keep Passau from scoring to make it 12-11.
A double then drove in two more runs and the game was called due to time.
Despite not getting a hit, Flynn scored two runs and had three stolen bases. David Hein went 1-1 with three walks and two stolen bases and one run.
Gaug finished the game with five strikeouts in three innings of work while Münster had six Ks in the final 2.1 innings.
Regensburg Legionäre IV return to action on Saturday, May 5 at 11 a.m. for their home opener against the Neufahrn Red Rockets.