Torrington strikes out 13 times, Smith walks eight in loss to Mountaineers

The Torrington Twisters could not make contact against Vermont pitching and starting pitcher Josh Smith (Lipscomb) walked eight as the Mountaineers won 5-2 Wednesday night.
Corey Shimada (Utah) got Torrington (9-11) off on the right foot when he led off the game with his third home run of the season. It was Shimada’s second lead-off home run this season. Not much else went right after that as Twister batters struck out 13 times. Torrington scored one run in the fifth on a single by Corey Huffine (Post University).
Run-scoring singles by Ethan Paquette (University of Vermont) and Jonathan Roof (Michigan State) made it 2-1 Vermont in the second inning. A bases loaded walk to Steven Felix (Troy University) later in the inning gave the Mountaineers a 3-1 lead.
In the third, Smith walked the bases loaded and Roof drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-1. A wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh from Twisters reliever Craig Schneider (Alderson-Broaddus) brought in Vermont’s final run.
Winning pitcher Josh Syberg (Southeast Missouri State) went 5.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits, striking out six while walking one. Relievers Alejandro Balsinde (Maine), Logan Billbrough (William & Mary) and Dusty Odenbach (UConn) did not give up a run in the final 3.2 innings. Billbrough and Odenbach each struck out the side, with Odenbach surrending a single and hit batter in the ninth.
In the ninth, Josh Chasse (San Diego State) was hit by a pitch leading off for Torrington. After Jaren Matthews (Rutgers) struck out, Brian Baudinet (UMass-Amherst) singled to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. Odenbach, however, struck out Jonathan Cluff (Brigham Young) and Huffine to end the game.
The Twisters host Sanford tonight at 7 p.m. Tonight is United Way of Northwest Connecticut’s "Night at the Twisters."