BURLINGTON, N.C. — The Bristol State Liners took the second game of a two-game set against the Burlington Sock Puppets, winning, 13-11, on Friday night.
A four-run first inning set the tone early for Bristol. A sacrifice fly by Patrick Gillen and a double by Brooks Wright drove in the first two runs. RBI singles by Jaxon Walker and Cole Young extended the lead.
Errors by Burlington in the top of the third allowed another run, and a balk later in the inning pushed the score to 5-0.
In the bottom of the third, Dom Kuprinski hit his fourth home run of the Appalachian League season, cutting the lead to 6-2.
Gillen padded Bristol’s lead in the fourth with a two-run single, his second and third RBIs of the game, making it 8-2.
Joe Dusell added a two-run homer in the fifth — his first of the summer — to give Bristol a commanding lead.
Burlington responded with a run on a wild pitch in the sixth, followed by a five-run seventh inning. Chance Jennings and Kuprinski each had RBI singles, and Caiden Combs doubled in two more. After seven innings, Bristol led 10-8.
Sam Laux doubled in the eighth to bring Burlington within one, but Bristol added three insurance runs in the ninth. A wild pitch and Gillen’s second two-run single of the game stretched the lead to 13-9.
Burlington threatened in the bottom of the ninth with a Preston Yaucher RBI single and a Zach Jackson sacrifice groundout but ultimately fell short.
Bristol starter Max Owens was solid, allowing two runs on two hits over five innings. Burlington's Conor Osier took the loss, surrendering four earned runs in just one inning.
With the win, Bristol improved to 13-18. Burlington fell to 18-13.
The State Liners head to Danville on Saturday for a two-game series against the Otterbots. The Sock Puppets remain at Burlington Athletic Stadium to host the first-place Greenville Flyboys.
