BRISTOL, Va. — A storybook grand slam by Gavin Cross in his hometown erased a four-run deficit in one swing and Jacob Berry plated the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly as the Stars evened the series at three games each with a 5-4 win over the Stripes Thursday evening at Boyce Cox Field in Bristol, Va.
With his team trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Cross (Virginia Tech) stepped up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded after a pair of walks and a hit batter. He promptly tied the game, depositing a 1-0 slider high on to the hill beyond the wall in right-center.
Berry (LSU) added another tally to the scoreboard an inning later with a sac fly to center which proved to be the game winner as pitchers Adam Stone (Harvard) and Carson Palmquist (Miami) combined for four scoreless innings to close out the contest.
Stone picked up the win with three shutout frames, fanning two and yielding just two hits. Palmquist earned the save after retiring the side in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Josh White (California) gave the Stripes a solid start on the mound, striking out three and allowing just two hits in three innings of work. Drew Gilbert (Tennessee) and Kevin Parada (Georgia Tech) also had two hits each in the losing effort.
CROSS QUOTE
“I honestly blacked out a little when I hit it. That was probably the most fun I have ever had and may ever have on a baseball field. It was awesome. I know probably 90 percent of the people here tonight with so many friends and family coming out to show their support. It was once-in-a-lifetime.”
KEY MOMENTS
- The Stripes raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, taking advantage of a pair of errors, a hit batter and a walk.
- Sean McLain (Arizona State) brought in the first run with an RBI groundout and Gilbert followed with a run-scoring single. Carter Trice (Old Dominion) and Jordan Sprinkle (UCSB) plated the next two runs with another RBI groundout and a double, respectively.
- Cross’ fifth-inning grand slam was his second home run of the summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
- With his sac fly in the sixth, Berry drove in his seventh run of the summer which is the most of any player on either the Stars or Stripes.
ON DECK
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will continue the Tennessee portion of its Appalachian League tour on Friday evening. The Stars and Stripes will square off at 7 p.m. ET in Elizabethton, Tenn., home of the Appy League’s Elizabethton River Riders.
