NILES, Ohio -- Former Indiana Wesleyan University starting pitcher Brandon Moore was stellar on the mound Tuesday night for the visiting Brooklyn Cyclones in a 4-2 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers as a gathering of friends and family traveled to northeast Ohio for the game.
Moore received a no-decision as he allowed two runs on four hits over 7-2/3 innings. The Wildcat alum walked two and struck out three and lowered his earned run average to 2.39 on the season.
Among the crowd collected in Niles, Ohio were three members of the Indiana Wesleyan athletic department, his parents and friends. Making the five hour trek from Marion, Indiana were athletic director Mark DeMichael, who was the baseball coach for the Wildcats during Moore's collegiate career, current baseball coach Chad Newhard and sports information director Kyle Schmidt.
"I was so proud of the way Brandon pitched, competed and handled himself in such a high-pressure situation," said DeMichael. "He had a great career for us at Indiana Wesleyan and now to see him having similar success at the professional level is pretty surreal."
DeMichael continued, "I caught myself thinking about the whole recruiting process of bringing Brandon to Indiana Wesleyan and then the incredible growth that he went through while at IWU and now, with the amazing year he is having for Brooklyn, the possibilities that are there for him in his professional baseball future. It was a very special night for me."
Moore was dynamic from the start for the Cyclones, a single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. The right-handed pitcher did not allow a hit until a home run with one out in the fourth handed the Scrappers a 2-0 lead.
Brooklyn cut the lead in half with a run in the sixth inning, but could not capitalize on chances in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game.
In the eight inning with a runner on second and two outs, Moore was able to induce a groundball to Brooklyn first baseman Sam Honeck. As Moore raced to first to take the throw on a close play, he stepped awkwardly on the base and fell to the ground. The runner was called safe and Moore's day was complete as he limped off the field.
Michael Powers relieved Moore and promptly walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but was able to get a groundout to end the threat.
Despite the tremendous pitching performance by Moore, he was in line for the loss heading into the ninth inning. But the Cyclones took advantage of Scrappers miscues, including a potential double play groundball to end the game that ended with the shortstop being pulled off the base on the throw, and scored three times in the inning to capture the 4-2 victory.
"It is great to see a former Indiana Wesleyan baseball player having success at the professional level," said Newhard."This is tremendous for the program and I was thrilled to get an opportunity to see him pitch."
Moore is currently 5-2 on the season and has a 2.39 ERA in 10 starts. In 64 innings pitched, the Crawfordsville, Indiana native has allowed just 47 hits and 12 walks while striking out 57 batters. Opposing batters have hit a combined .203 when facing Moore.
For the season, Moore is third in the league in WHIP (0.92), fourth in strikeouts, tied for fourth in wins and 12th in ERA.
The victory for Brooklyn and the resulting loss for Mahoning Valley placed the two teams with identical 33-19 records. The teams are each atop their division and are tied with the best record in the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League.
