The Lorain County Ironmen fought hard but fell 11-10 to the Butler Blue Sox in a 13-inning marathon in the first game of the season in Pennsylvania.

Texas Tech freshman Joseph Burnett (0-1) took the loss in the 13th inning. Butler catcher Kevin Smith delivered a sacrifice fly to centerfield to drive in Zach Duggan with the winning run.

The Ironmen struck first in their first at bat of the season. Matt McAllester reached first on a fielding error by the first baseman. McAllester then stole second base, one of three steals on the night, and moved to third on Nick Hamilton’s single. The two then pulled off a perfectly timed double steal of second and home to give the Ironmen their first lead of the season.

The Ironmen added three more runs in the second inning, all coming with two outs. Mike Grieco and Matt Toth both walked with two gone in the inning. Melendez and McAllester followed with back to back RBI singles to plate the runs.

The game then turned into a back-and-forth battle for the lead. Butler would take a two run lead in seventh inning on two walks and a double from Smith. The lead would stand going into the top of the ninth. The Ironmen provided the fans in attendance some extra baseball when Billy Urban drove the second pitch of the at bat over the left fielder’s head for an RBI double, scoring Tony Brunetti from first. Stephen Hagen followed with the game tying RBI single to right field tying the game 10-10. After nine innings of an offensive showcase by both teams, extra innings turned into a pitcher’s duel. The score would remain tied until Smith’s RBI sacrifice fly.

courtesy of Tim Pozsgai, Ironmen play-by-play, VP of media relations