Gold Sox complete sweep of Bighorns

Five Marysville pitchers combined for a season-high 16 strikeouts and the Gold Sox finished off a three-game sweep of the visiting Nevada Bighorns with a 3-2 victory at Appeal-Democrat Park on Sunday night.

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Gold Sox, who upped their record to 20-6 on the year.

Once again, Marysville's starting pitching was the key as right-hander Corey Rhodes took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Rhodes went on to throw six shutout innings and left the game allowing just the single hit while striking out nine.

The Gold Sox got on the board early when Brooke Brooks lined a triple and came into score on a groundout in the first inning. Colby Harrison smacked an RBI double later in the frame, giving Marysville a 2-0 lead after one.

Harrison added a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to make it 3-0 Gold Sox, and Rhodes, backed by four relief pitchers, made the lead stand.

Taylor Wade struck out the side in order in the seventh, but Chris Bataska ran into some trouble in the eighth when he gave up three hits, allowing the Bighorns to cut the lead to one.

However, Alex Pierse recorded a strikeout with the bases loaded to get the second out of the inning and Patrick O'Rourke fanned another with the bags full to leave the potential go-ahead run stranded at second base.

The Gold Sox will take today off before welcoming in the California Glory for a rare Tuesday night game that will feature postgame fireworks. The Gold Sox will continue the three-game series on Thursday and Friday before ending the weekend with a short two-game set against the San Luis Obispo Rattlers.