Sweeps by Rimini and Bologna, Reggio Emilia takes game one, Nettuno and the rest of the bunch hit the field today

Unipol Bologna swept their two game series with Godo by taking game two, 10-4. Bologna knocked out 14 hits in the game which included a grand slam off of the bat of Chris Aguila in the top of the first which helped them get off to a fast start in which they never looked back. Unipol scored four in the first, three in the fourth, and three more in the eighth. Everyone got their work in on the mound for Bologna, four pitchers in all (D’Angelo, Richetti (W), Barbaresi, and Oberto) which should help them in next weeks European cup. Nanni’s squad finishes the first half of the season with an impressive 15 and 3 record.

Rimini also swept their two game series with T&A San Marino on Friday evening. When it was all said anddone Rimini was able to hang onto a 5-3 lead with Sandy Patrone on the mound. The righty threw the last 4 innings of the game, giving up 0 hits, 0 runs, and striking out 6, one of which was his 800th career strikeout. Cooper suffered the loss out of the pen for San Marino when he came onto relieve Magrane who lasted only the first 3.2. Notably Alexander Romero and Riccardo Babini both drove in 2 for Rimini and it was Bertagnon who picked up the 5th. San Marino’s struggles continued with the sweep. The 2012 IBL champs finished off the first half of the season with a 3 and 5 record, which has allowed both Parma and Reggio Emilia to climb back into the playoff picture.

Crepaldi was brilliant on the mound in his first start of the year against Parma. The young righty went 7 strong innings for Reggio Emilia where he allowed only 1 run off of 4 hits while striking out 7. Palfinger Reggio Emilia was able to capitalize on 4 errors committed by the Parma’s defense, with the big blow coming off the bat of Epifano in the 2nd on a bases clearing triple to right-center. Carrion’s team scored 4 in the 2nd and 3 in the 4th off of 7 total hits on their way to a 7-2 victory in game one of this two game derby. The two teams will hit the field again tonight as the series moves from Reggio Emilia to Parma with a game time of 20.00.

All attention will be on Nettuno on Saturday where a day-night doubleheader between a Nettuno team that has won 10 straight (13 of 14) will take on Toshiba Enegan Grosseto. Ruggero Bagialemani’s club has the clear intension of sweeping the two game series in order to keep pace with a Unipol Bologna club (who took two from Godo this weekend) at the top of the standings. Bagialemani wont be changing up his winning formula this weekend. He’ll be sending Andrea Pizziconi to the bump in game one, while the veteran, Riccardo De Santis, will be getting the call in game two. Imperiali will be penciled in on the lineup card, however it he does get in the game it will be in a pinch hitting role.

As for Nettuno’s opponents, Toshiba Enegan Grosseto is heading into “The City of Baseball” as a club that is moving in the complete opposite direction as their adversary, losers of their last 9 games. This week Grosseto’s organization has announced that they have released the Bernardo Encarnacion. The outfielder was only hitting .259 at the halfway point, with 3 RBI’s and 22 strikeouts. Grosseto’s mangager, Danilo Biagioli, is now faced with the task of filling in a few gaps on his lineup card. The two starters for Grosseto this weekend will be Ularetti and Garcia, however its still uncertain the order in which the two will take the ball. Game one begins at 15.30 and game two at 20.30.

The last series on the schedule this week is the one that features Novara and the New Black Panthers. The two teams seem to be fairly evenly matched, however the odds with MyBet seem to favor the home team (Novara) slightly. For Novara, Mike Romano will be sending out Calero and Torres in game one of the doubleheader and it should be Tardivo and Di Taddeo in game two.

On the other side of the diamond the New Black Panthers will be short Furlan, Nunin and Cecotti, which forces Da Re (manger) to shuffle around his lineup just a little. Included in the moves will be Collado at first base and Baccari behind the plate. Most likely Yepez will take the ball in the foreign game for Ronchi with Litzinger out of the pen. Petralia will get the nod in the other game.