NEW BRITAIN, CT — Dante Bichette Jr. and Jake Cave paced the offense in Game 2 of the Trenton Thunder’s doubleheader split with the New Britain Rock Cats Wednesday night at New Britain Stadium.
Following Tuesday’s postponement, the Thunder and Rock Cats played a pair of games starting at 5:05 p.m. before 4,432 fans on a beautiful night in the Nutmeg State. Though the Thunder were shutout by Rock Cats starting pitcher Shane Carle in the 5-0 opening loss, they received a complete game effort of their own from starting pitcher Jaron Long. Over his six innings he allowed five runs on 70 pitches, but just two of the five runs were earned.
Of the seven hits the Thunder scattered in Game 1, the lone batter with a multi-hit game was Jake Cave who finished 2-for-4. Cave would carry that momentum into Game 2 when he got the Thunder offense started with a bunt single to begin the game.
The offense would find itself with runners at first and second base in the 1st inning with two outs when Mark Payton and Bichette Jr. delivered consecutive RBI singles for a 2-0 Thunder lead. After a David Dahl HR to begin the bottom of the 1st, the Thunder responded with a pair of runs in the 4th inning to extend the lead to 4-1.
Cave finished the doubleheader 5-for-8, Bichette Jr. wen 3-for-4 and Danny Oh went 2-for-3 with a walk to pace the 19-hit attack over 14 innings between the two games.
The Trenton Thunder play their final game against the New Britain Rock Cats Thursday at New Britain Stadium. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on the Thunder Radio Network or online at www.trentonthunder.com.
