TORNADOES RALLY PAST JACKALS TO STAVE OFF SWEEP

Worcester, Mass. – The Worcester Tornadoes scored eight unanswered runs to erase a 3-0 deficit and defeat the New Jersey Jackals 8-3 on Thursday night at Hanover Insurance Park. With the win, the Tornadoes avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Jackals.

Trailing 3-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, the Tornadoes strung together six consecutive two-out hits to plate five runs. With third baseman Chris Colabello aboard via a walk, first baseman Nick Salotti laced his second home run of the season to give Worcester its first lead of the game. Left fielder Craig Maddox followed with a single before second baseman Mark Minicozzi doubled him home to make it 5-3. A single by designated hitter Gordon Gronkowski chased New jersey starter Nick Asselin from the contest and Isaac Pavlik entered and immediately surrendered a Courtney Billingslea RBI double and a run-scoring infield single off the bat of center fielder Billy Cather to cap the five-run rally, which put the Tornadoes on top by a 7-3 score.

In his 200th career start, Worcester right-hander John Kelly struck out the first four batters he faced in the contest, but he ran into trouble in the top of the second. New Jersey first baseman Jabe Bergeron drew a one-out walk which shortstop Mike DeJesus followed with a triple to right. Bergeron was thrown out at the plate on DeJesus’s first three-bagger of the season, but the next batter, second baseman Argenis Reyes, plated DeJesus when he reached on a hustle double to center field to make it 1-0 New Jersey. The next batter, catcher Scott Knazek, lined his first homer of the season to left center to extend the Jackals’ lead to 3-0.

The Tornadoes finally got to Asselin in the bottom of the third inning, scoring a pair of runs on a no-out RBI single by Billingslea and a two-out sacrifice fly off the bat of third baseman Chris Colabello to cut their deficit to 3-2.

However, the Jackals bats were silenced the rest of the night as Kelly (2-0) fanned nine batters while walking two over six innings to earn the win. The 37-year-old allowed three runs on five hits. The Worcester bullpen also contributed three shutout frames in the win with southpaw Shawn Gilblair pitching the seventh and eighth and closer John Slusarz tossing a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation.

For New Jersey, Asselin (1-3) took the loss after surrendering seven runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks over 5 2/3 innings. Pavlik faced three batters and recorded the final out in the sixth before rookie left-hander Luis Fernandez yieled one run over the final two innings on a Rick Asadoorian sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.

Offensively, Jackals’ center fielder Kevin Clark went 1-for-2 with a fifth-inning single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Designated hitter Jordan Newton and Reyes each collected multiple hits, going 2-for-4 for New Jersey. The bottom three hitters in the Worcester lineup – Minicozzi, Gronkowski, and Billingslea – combined to go 7-for-12 with three RBIs and four runs scored.

The Jackals, who sit in second place in the Can-Am League standings, return home on Friday to begin a three-game weekend set with the first-place Quebec Capitales at 7:05 p.m. at Yogi Berra Stadium. In the series opener, New Jersey will send southpaw Ryan Lobban (1-1, 4.77 ERA) to the mound against Quebec right-hander Karl Gelinas (1-0, 4.91 ERA). Cody Chrusciel has the live call on the Jackals webcast beginning 10 minutes prior to first pitch at www.jackals.com.

The New Jersey Jackals, proud members of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, play their home games at Yogi Berra Stadium located on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, NJ. 2010 season tickets, mini-plans and group outings are available by calling 973-746-7434. Visit the Jackals online at www.jackals.com.

Jackal Bites: The Tornadoes outhit the Jackals 12-7… Jordan Newton’s leadoff bloop single to left in the top of the sixth inning was the first hit by a leadoff batter against Worcester starter John Kelly in 19 innings this season… The Jackals are now 0-7 when trailing after six innings this season while Worcester is 6-0 when leading after six frames.