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.

Sugar Land Skeeters fall to Southern Maryland to kickoff second half of season

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (July 10, 2015) After giving up three runs in the first inning, the SugarLand Skeeters tried to keep the Southern Maryland in check, but could not  contain the bats of the Blue Crabs; falling by the score of 6-0 at Constellation Field in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land on Friday, July 10, 2015. With the loss, the Skeeters fall to 4-10 against Southern Maryland in 2015.

The Blue Crabs added two runs in the fifth inning along with an insurance run in the seventh to secure the win. The Skeeters are on track to score 512 runs this season, which would be the lower in team history. The Skeeters have been known as a second-half team in their first three years of existence; posting 136-94 combined record in the months of July, August, and September.

Sugar Land connected for two hits, but could not get the bats to advance any runner home. On the contrary, the Blue Crabs scored their six runs off 10 hits, while taking advantage of two Skeeters errors.

This current series against Southern Maryland will continue on Saturday, July 11 with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch and conclude on Sunday, July 12 at 5:05 p.m. Right-hander Sean Gallagher is schedules to take the mount on Saturday while left-hander Roy Merritt slated for Sunday.