AUSTRALIA – The Perth HEAT rebounded from an 8-1 series opening loss to the Queensland Rams last Friday night with a pair of victories on Saturday to clinch the Round 3 series of the 2010 Dominos Claxton Shield at Brisbane’s Holloway Field.

Andy Utting popped a pair of long balls – including a fatal three-run shot in the eighth – to lead Queensland in Game 1. Brad Dutton also homered for the Rams as Simon Morriss (1-1) turned in an impressive outing on the hill to get the win.

Perth evened the series at a game apiece on Saturday afternoon with a 7-4 win. The HEAT scored two first-inning runs on RBI hits by Tim Kennelly and Chris House, and held a 4-1 lead in the third before Queensland tagged Perth starter Daniel Schmidt with three scores in the bottom of the third to knot the game.

Kennelly and House, who combined for five hits and five RBIs, put the HEAT back on top in the fifth with back-to-back home runs. Reliever TJ Wohlever (1-0) tossed 4 1/3 solid innings out of the bullpen to notch his first win in his debut outing.

Perth captured a hard-fought 4-3 win in the rubber match Saturday night. Utting gave Queensland an early lead with a long ball in the second, but Mitch Graham and Tim Kennelly hit homers in the third and fourth frames to give the Heat a 3-1 advantage.

An RBI bloop single off the bat of Nick Kimpton stretched the score to 4-1, but the Rams made it a one-run affair with a pair of scores in the eighth. However, Warwick Saupold came in from the bullpen to close the door with a four-out save.

Photo courtesy of the Australian Baseball Federation

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Tags: Australia