Bandits Breakaway Late to Beat Blue Sox 9–2 Behind Dominant Pitching, Five-Run Ninth

SYDNEY — What had been a tight, low-scoring contest for most of the night turned into a Brisbane Bandits surge, as a five-run ninth inning sealed a 9–2 win over the Sydney Blue Sox on Friday at Blacktown International Sportspark.

Brisbane controlled the game on the mound from the start. Right-hander Hayate Nakagawa delivered a sharp rebound from his Opening Round outing, throwing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, no walks and only two hits allowed. Sydney threatened him just twice, but both baserunners were erased by catcher Robbie Perkins who caught both stealing on the basepaths. Luke Krkovski followed with two perfect frames and three strikeouts, keeping Brisbane in front before Sam Holland surrendered Sydney’s only two runs in the eighth. Tyler Jeans handled the ninth and struck out Eric Rataczak to end the game.

The Bandits manufactured their first run in the third, when Dermot Fritsch singled, moved up on a fielder’s choice and scored when George Callil grounded into a double play. Brisbane then broke through against Sydney starter Landen Bourassa in the fourth. With Will Riley and Rixon Wingrove aboard, Kyosuke Mashiko drove a fly ball to right for an RBI double. One batter later, Jake Burns lined a two-run single past Briley Knight in right field, giving the Bandits a 4–0 lead.

Sydney remained quiet until the eighth inning, when Jo Stevens was hit by a pitch and later scored on Hansel Jimenez’s double to center. Jimenez came home on a sacrifice fly from Joshua Nati, cutting the margin to 4–2 and briefly giving the Blue Sox life.

Brisbane slammed the door in the ninth thanks to Sydney errors. Fritsch singled to open the rally and eventually scored when Riley drew a bases-loaded walk against reliever Josh Bishopp. After a mound visit and a pitching change to Josh Guyer, Wingrove punched a two-run single into center, scoring Sohoo Ham and Max Durrington. Moments later, Perkins reached on a throwing error by Stevens at third base, allowing Riley and Wingrove to score and stretching the lead to 9–2.

Wingrove finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, two runs and a stolen base. Fritsch added two hits and two runs, while Riley doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in two. Burns collected two RBI, and Mashiko recorded his first extra-base hit of the season.

Brisbane out-hit Sydney 10–5 and was 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Blue Sox mustered just two at-bats with runners in scoring position and struck out 13 times on the night. Sydney also committed three errors, including the costly ninth-inning throwing error that allowed two unearned runs to score.

The win moved Brisbane to 2–3, while Sydney fell to 3–2. The series continues Saturday in Sydney at Blacktown International Sportspark. Fans can catch all the action on Baseball +.