JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Improving to 26-13 and a commanding first-place lead in the league standings, the Tennessee Tornado swept the Spartanburg Blue Eagles last night at Cardinal Park, 5-1 and 1-0.
In Game 1, Tyler Deetjen pitched five scoreless innings to improve to 2-1 on the season, while Frank Newcomb worked two innings allowing one run. Offensively, the Tornado jumped out to an early lead in the first inning with RBIs by Sam Eberle, Jean Carlos Diaz and Jay Davis. They added two more runs in the fourth inning.
Delwynn Patterson carried a hot-hitting day into Game 2, as he went 5-5 with a double, a walk, and the only run scored in the night-cap on a Bart Roark double.
In a tight game against Andonios Constantatos, Tennessee looked to Johnson City righty Aaron Dorriety, who tossed a complete game three-hitter in his last appearance against Spartanburg. Last night, he went 6 1-3 innings allowing only one hit and striking out nine Blue Eagles, improving to 4-2. Sean Albury came in to pitch for a scout in attendance, and he struck out the last two batters on only six pitches to record his second save and increase his scoreless streak to 15 1-3 innings.
Tennessee faces Spartanburg again Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Milligan College in the season finale, where the Blue Eagles may well be fighting for their postseason lives, as they now trail the Carolina Chaos at 1.5 games out of fourth place. First for Tennessee, however, they’ll host the Carolina Stingers today at a special time, 3 p.m. for the first pitch of the double-header, at Cardinal Park.
