Kubitza's grand slam home run leads Sugar Land to 10-4 win over Southern Maryland

Sugar Land Skeeters manager Pete Incaviglia has seen
his team connect for 26 runs in two games against the
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

Story and Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

SUGAR LAND, TEXAS (May 19, 2018) Paced by a grand slam home run by right fielder Kyle Kubitza, the Sugar Land Skeeters (13-7) downed the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (7-12) by the score of 10-4 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas on Saturday,May 19, 2018). The win pushed the Skeeters record for the home stand to 4-2 against the Blue Crabs.

The Blue Crabs jumped put out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first innings with second baseman Johnny Bladel scoring on a throwing error by Sugar Land first baseman Matt Chavez. First baseman Devon Rodriguez secured the Southern Maryland second run off a single by left fielder Ryan Strausborger. They added an additional run in the second inning to take the score to 3-0 after nine outs. The Skeeters came back in the bottom of the inning, when left fielder Courtney Hawkins knocked a solid hit down the third base line, scoring third baseman Albert Cordero and second baseman Anthony Giansanti from third and second base, respectively. Sugar Land added two more run in the third inning to take a 4-3 lead. The Blue Crabs responded with an additional run in the top of the fourth to tie the score at four.

Then Kubitza connected for his base-clearing hit over the left center field wall and into the play land. The round tripper was his second home run of the season and pushed his RBI total to 17 for 2018. The Skeeters added two insurance runs, on a hit by Hawkins in the seventh inning, and a hit by first baseman Matt Chavez, in the eighth, to close out the scoring for the night. Hawkins currently leads the Atlantic League in both RBI, with 26, and home runs (six).

The current series ends on Sunday, May 20 with a 2:05 p.m. CDT start. The Skeeters will begin a six-game road series on Tuesday, May 22 against the Somerset Patriots and the New Britain Bees before returning on May 29 to host the Long Island Ducks.