The Auckland Tuatara have claimed another series sweep at home thanks to a strong outing from both the bats and starting pitcher Josh Collmenter.
The Tuatara completed their sweep against Geelong Korea at North Harbour Stadium this afternoon with a 7-2 win after Collmenter threw five scoreless innings.
The former Major League pitcher yielded just three hits while striking out five and walking no one and his performance was backed up by the big bats of Yonny Hernandez and Kim Won-seok in the batter's box.
Hernandez collected three RBIs with a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the fourth innings before Won-seok added another two runs an innings later with his fifth home run of the season which he launched over the Teal Monster in left field.
Geelong showed some grit late in the game to score twice in the seventh before the Tuatara recovered to seal the win.
Tuatara manager Stephen Mintz said he was happy with the overall result but wanted more from his side late in the game.
“I was frustrated because I wanted to get the shut-out there,” Mintz said.
“We made a couple of basic errors there and allowed them to score a couple of runs.
“Yonny’s knock to bring in those runners was crucial in putting us on top and then Collmenter gave us a great start.
“He got better and better last season and it seems to be going that way again this season.”
The win sees the Tuatara cement their place at the top of the Northeast Division.
“For every win we get, that is two the others have to get to chase us down,” a delighted Mintz added.
The Tuatara heads to Sydney next week for a series against the Blue Sox and then were scheduled to go on to Canberra for a series against the Cavalry the following week but bushfires ravaging Australia could interrupt that schedule.
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