By Colin Casey

SOUTH KINGSTOWN - The Valley Blue Sox ran into some more tough starting pitching Tuesday night, falling to the Ocean State Waves, 7-3.

Similar to Monday’s game, Valley (17-8) had trouble finding offense early on, putting only one man on base the first trip through the lineup. After falling behind 1-0 in the second, Jaylen Smith (Kennesaw State) doubled and later scored on a Tyler Kapuscinski single to right to even the score.

However, Ocean State (14-11) was able to get big hits in the middle innings, including a three-run blast from Garrett Hodges (Kennesaw State) over the right field fence which extended the Waves’ lead to four. Hodges picked up another RBI later, totaling four on the night. His big game helped give the Waves a 7-1 advantage going into the ninth.

Once again, Andre Marrero (Quinnipiac) sparked the Blue Sox offense late. He homered for the second time in as many games to cut the lead to five. The Sox got a few more hits in the ninth, including an RBI double from Benny Wanger (Yale) to bring the score to 7-3, but that’s as close as they would get.

“I think it’s a combination of running into good pitching and us trying to do too much at the plate.” manager John Raiola said when asked about the recent struggles at the plate for the Blue Sox. “And unfortunately when we’ve gotten big hits, there weren’t really many guys on base to drive in. But we’ve got a real talented bunch of guys in that lineup and I’m confident they’ll get hot again.”

The Blue Sox will return home Wednesday night to host the North Adams SteepleCats. It’s SUBWAY night, which means you can pick up FREE tickets at participating SUBWAY restaurants! First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM at Mackenzie Stadium.