SENATORS GAME RECAP

As solid as LHP Cory VanAllen was on the mound in his Double-A debut, he may have been even more impressive at the plate. VanAllen worked 5.2 innings, allowed just one run and tripled in his first professional at-bat as he picked up the win in a 5-2 victory over the Connecticut Defenders.

VanAllen gave up four hits (three doubles), walked one and struck out three. He allowed a run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Chambersburg native Adam Witter.

Meanwhile, the Senators jumped on top in a sloppy first inning. Justin Maxwell reached on an error to start the frame, stole second, moved to third and scored on a pair of wild pitches by Defenders starter Paul Oseguera.

In the third, VanAllen clubbed a triple off the fence in left with one out. He scored on a two-out RBI single by William Bergolla. Roger Bernadina followed with a triple to right-center, making it 3-0.

The Defenders pulled to 3-1 on Witter’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 6th, but Devin Ivany blasted a two-run homer to left-center to extend the advantage to 5-1. The Defenders scored a run in the 7th to cut it to 5-2, but the Harrisburg bullpen controlled things the rest of the way.

For the second straight day, Beltran Perez worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Zech Zinicola came on for a scoreless ninth. Zinicola picked up his second save of the year for Harrisburg.

VanAllen is 1-0 for the Senators. Oseguera took the loss, falling to 0-1.

The Senators remain perfect in ten series openers this season. They are 20-10 on the season, while the Defenders dropped to 14-16.

The series continues Tuesday at Commerce Bank Park. RHP Jordan Zimmermann, the 7th-ranked prospect in the Washington organization, makes his Double-A debut in a 6:05 PM start.