PALM SPRINGS – The POWER (23-2, 10-2) romped their way to a fourth-straight win Sunday, as they beat the High Desert Heat (9-10, 2-8) 12-0.
Blake Estep picked up the win in his first start of the season to improve to 2-0. On offense, Michael Massi went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to extend his hit streak to 10 games. Ryan Jones also had a strong day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Estep was called upon in a spot start and responded with a quality outing. The Penn State-product pitched five scoreless innings and struck out two, scattering three hits and one walk across that span. Mark Lukowski worked two shutout innings in relief of Estep, before Michael Barrett and Pete Reyes threw a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively.
With the shutout, Palm Springs has now held its opponent scoreless in two straight games and seven times in the last 17 contests. POWER pitching has not allowed a run over the last 26 innings and has allowed only one run in the last 40 innings.
The POWER used three big innings to blow the game open, scoring five runs in the fourth, four runs in the fifth and three runs in the seventh.
In the fourth, Palm Springs used five-straight, two-out RBI singles to open up a five-run lead. In the fifth, the big blow came compliments of Massi, who stroked a two-run single to centerfield to make the score 9-0. Ryan Raslowsky drove in two with a single of his own in the seventh inning to complete the scoring at 12-0.
The POWER return to the diamond on Tuesday when they host the So Cal Catch. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Palm Springs Stadium. Remember it is “Two-for-Tuesday,” meaning fans can enjoy two-for-one admissions, as well as discounts on select concessions. Fans that cannot make it to the stadium can listen to the game on pspbb.com.
