JetHawks fail rabbit test again

Once again, poor pitching was the theme of Lancaster's undoing as the JetHawks fell 10 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.

It seemed nearly every time they looked to the scoreboard along the right-field wall at the Lake Elsinore Diamond on Friday, the pink bunny that celebrates Storm runs was doing cartwheels and splits along the warning track. When he wasn't dancing, either another hit was being added to the home team's total or another error to the visitor's side.

Lancaster was beat in every facet of the game and ended up taking a 9-2 loss before 4,602 delighted Storm faithful.

"It was ugly," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said from his team's nearly silent clubhouse after the Storm outhit the JetHawks 16-4.

The loss, Lancaster's second in a row and fourth in its first six games of a 10-game road trip, dropped the JetHawks (13-23) 10 games under .500 for the first time in the franchise's four-year history. Lancaster has now lost 22 of its last 32 games and 16 of its last 22.

Lake Elsinore (17-18), which has won 10 of its last 12, moved into a first-place tie with San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga atop the South Division standings.

Like it has during most of the road trip, starting pitching once again dug the JetHawks into a deep hole early Friday.

With the exception of Brandon Parker's start Monday, a Lancaster starter has allowed at least seven hits in each of the first six games of what will be the JetHawks' longest road trip of the season.

Joe Victery (0-3) kept that string alive Friday, allowing 11 hits in his four innings of work. Those hits, plus his two walks, resulted in eight Lake Elsinore runs, seven of which were earned.

That was only marginally better than Victery's last outing Sunday, when the right-hander was pelted for nine hits and eight runs in only two innings of work at Rancho Cucamonga.

"I think you saw him trying too hard to make the perfect pitch tonight," Lancaster pitching coach Greg Harris said.

Victery wasn't the only player wearing purple that would like to forget Friday. The loss was a team effort, as the JetHawks were charged with five errors and failed to get anything going offensively.

"It was one of those nights," Garner said. "We didn't make the plays."

Lake Elsinore right-hander Steve Fish (3-3), who also was the winning pitcher in a 12-2 Storm victory at The Hangar on May 4, allowed six walks in seven innings of work, but held the JetHawks to a first-inning run, scored when Jermaine Clark came home on Greg Connors' sacrifice fly.

After that run, it was all Lake Elsinore.

"We struggled as a team overall tonight," Garner said.

The Storm took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. After Chris Walther drew a leadoff walk, Jason Huisman got an infield single and Steve Hagins doubled in the pair. Hagins also scored what proved to be the winning run on Jay Hood's RBI single to give Lake Elsinore a 3-1 lead after two.

Four more Storm hits in the third resulted in a 5-1 Storm advantage, before Lake Elsinore added three more runs in the fourth with the benefit of two Lancaster errors.