Briggs' bomb not enough; Ramblers fall to Dubuque

With his powerful left-handed swing, Chris Briggs sent a drive deep over the center field wall for a three-run homer to give Key West a 6-4 lead over Dubuque in the top of the seventh inning in Sunday's first round Farley Tournament battle. However, Dubuque would rally for four runs of its own in the bottom half of the seventh off reliever Dan Spain, eliminating the Ramblers from the tournament they captured last season.

The Blues walked off a winner after Spain's wild pitch with the bases loaded chased Brian Putnam to the plate and pushed Dubuque to the second round with an 8-7 victory. The Blues' four-run seventh-inning rally came on the heels of a five-run Key West outburst in the top of the frame, staking the Ramblers to a 7-4 advantage.

Alex Timmerman got Dubuque started in the seventh with a base hit, making him a perfect 4-for-4 on the afternoon. Spain then struck out Aaron Wulfekuhle on three pitches before a single and a hit batter loaded the bases. Putnam followed with a two-run single prior to an RBI single delivered by Seth Hoerner to knot the score at 7-7. Spain's first walk of the game loaded the bases for Aaron Saugeling, who watched the winning run cross home plate after a pitch in the dirt escaped to the backstop.

Key West (15-3) trailed by as many as four runs and entered the seventh and final inning down 4-2 against star pitcher Saugeling, who went the distance to earn the win. Matt Knabel lined out to short to begin the inning. Center fielder Tanner Denlinger ignited the rally with a double to center. Cory Davidson followed with an RBI single to get the Ramblers within a run. Spain struck out looking for the second out, but Tim Carty was then hit by a pitch to force the tying run to second base to set the stage for Briggs.

Briggs crushed the 2-0 offering well over the center field fence for his fourth home run of the season. Even with strong gusting winds that gave every fly ball to left or left center a chance to leave the yard, Briggs' shot needed no help.

Three batters later, second baseman Justin Kuhle added an RBI single to give Key West a three-run cushion. The Ramblers appeared well on their way to advancing to the second round as Spain took the mound for his second inning of relief in the seventh after retiring the top-three hitters in the Dubuque lineup in order in the sixth.

Key West did not get on the board against Saugeling until the sixth when Briggs' shallow fly to right field was dropped, scoring Davidson all the way from first. Spencer Kuehn proceeded with an RBI single to plate Briggs from third, giving the Ramblers a pair of unearned runs in the frame.

Davidson finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Briggs went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs and three RBIs. Kuhle was the other Rambler to collect two hits, as he notched a 2-for-4 day.

Saugeling and Alex Timmerman each went deep for Dubuque. Saugeling led off the bottom of the fifth with a mammoth home run to left center off of starter Kuehn. Two batters later, Timmerman took advantage of the jet stream to left center with a pop fly that carried over the wall for a two-run shot, making the score 3-0 in favor of Dubuque. The Blues added another tally in the inning with a J.J. Reimer RBI single.

Kuehn pitched the first five innings for the Ramblers, allowing four runs (all earned), nine hits and four walks to go with three strikeouts. Saugeling gave up all seven Key West runs (five earned) in his complete game effort. He surrendered 10 hits, but sprinkled in nine punch outs.

Key West will get another shot at Dubuque on Tuesday at Petrakis Park. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in what will be the fourth meeting already between the two rivals. The Blues have won two of the first three in the season series.