The Traiskirchen Grasshoppers repeated the commanding success of Opening Weekend with another set of blowout victories, while Marin Pschorr continued the great start to her history-making season as Austria’s first female head coach thanks, in part, to a dominant outing from Lochlan Southee. Elsewhere, the Vienna Metrostars claimed wins in the club’s first two games of the year and the Wiener Neustadt Diving Ducks got into the win column in a split with Vienna Wanderers.
Feldkirch Cardinals at Traiskirchen Grasshoppers
The Grasshoppers conquered two shutout successes against the Feldkirch Cardinals with a remarkable defensive performance, good pitching, and a huge one-inning outburst. Leading 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Traiskirchen exploded for 10 runs, with the first two coming off youngster Tobias Werner’s two-run shot and the last two on a Kervin Castillo round-tripper that scored Werner, who had doubled for his second extra-base hit in the inning. Tobias Kiefer (1-0) was exceptional on the mound, striking out nine in five two-hit frames [Box].
The second game of the Sunday doubleheader was even more lopsided in the Grasshoppers’ favour, with a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth resulting in eight runs in the home side’s second attempt at the inning that day. Philipp Eckel went yard twice and Werner was 4-for-5 with his third triple in four games. Castillo and Ukrainian national teamer Georgii Gvrytishvili also blasted home runs, while the latter whiffed 10 in five shutout frames [Box].
Schwechat Blue Bats at Dornbirn Indians
The Blue Bats had one of the team’s better performances against Dornbirn in the opener of a doubleheader, plating two in the first gamely attempting a comeback down 8-3 in the seventh, but the Indians’ offense kept churning throughout the game, winning 11-6. The clubs combined for nine doubles among 19 hits, with Dornbirn’s Jochen Pfister (3-for-4, BB, 2 2B) and Chris Squires (2-for-3, 2B, 2BB, 2SB) leading the charge [Box]. Ryan Rupp (2-0) struck out 10 for the second start in a row.
The second game was a nail-biter from beginning to end, with Schwechat plating single runs in the fourth and sixth to take a two-run lead against Lochlan Southee without the virtue of a hit. The Blue Bats’ Tyler Williams was excellent, whiffing 12 through six frames and allowing only one run on a one-base hit by Squires.
Southee continued to post zeroes in the run and hit columns for Dornbirn and his offence finally broke through in the eighth. Joachim Frick walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, setting up Squires to lift a flyball to left to tie the game. A two-out walk to Marcel Theiner then set up Michael Jäger, who ripped a triple to deep centre for the go-ahead run. Southee took the mound for a final frame and, for the second consecutive inning, struck out the side to punctuate Europe’s first no-hitter of 2021. The southpaw (2-0) punched out 19 and permitted two unearned runs despite only two free passes [Box].
Wiener Neustadt Diving Ducks vs. Vienna Wanderers
In the league’s only Friday game, the Diving Ducks earned their first win of the season through a pair of four-run innings in the third and fourth, holding on for a 10-5 victory. Moritz Scheicher came up huge for the club, lacing a double and two singles to pace the offence and entering with the bases loaded in the eighth and wiggling out of the jam [Box].
In Game Two, the Wanderers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI-triple from player-coach Hiro Sakanashi. From then on, Ducks starter Rick van Dijck controlled the Wanderers’ offensive into the fifth inning. A two-RBI single from Juli Diaz and a wild pitch in the fifth sealed the win. Wanderers’ pitcher Christian Tomsich did not allow a run in the first eight innings, sending down seven by strikeout [Box].
ASAK Athletics Attnang-Puchheim at Vienna MetroStars
The second split of the weekend featured a pitchers’ duel in Game One, with Jakob Simonsen (1-0) allowing only an unearned run in a complete game effort for the MetroStars. Luis Dueñas Hidalgo (0-2) was the unlucky loser for the second-straight week, striking out five in seven innings and allowing two runs, one earned. No player had more than one hit [Box].
In Game Two, a four-run fifth allowed Attnang-Puchheim to come-from-behind for its first victory of the year. Raphael Mayr was 4-for-5 in the victory, while Andreas Lastinger went 3-for-3 with two walks. Two others had a pair of hits, while four MetroStars also had a hitting brace [Box].
The Hard Bulls did not play last weekend.
Week 2 Results
April 16 Diving Ducks 10 – Wanderers 5 [Box]
April 17 Indians 11 – Blue Bats 6 [Box]
April 17 Indians 3 – Blue Bats 2 [Box]
April 17 Metrostars 3 – Athletics 1 [Box]
April 17 Metrostars 4 – Athletics 7 [Box]April 18 Grasshoppers 14 – Cardinals 0 (7) [Box]
April 18 Grasshoppers 17 – Cardinals 0 (7) [Box]
April 18 Wanderers 4 – Diving Ducks 0 [Box]
Standings: East
Team | W-L | Pct. | GB | H | A | RF | RA | Str |
Traiskirchen GH | 4-0 | 1.000 | – | 3-0 | 1-0 | 58 | 10 | W4 |
Vienna MetroStars | 3-1 | .750 | 1 | 3-1 | 0-0 | 41 | 17 | L1 |
Vienna Wanderers | 1-1 | .500 | 2 | 1-0 | 0-1 | 9 | 10 | W1 |
W. Neustadt D. Ducks | 1-3 | .250 | 3 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 20 | 36 | L1 |
Schwechat Blue Bats | 0-4 | .000 | 4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 17 | 48 | L4 |
Standings: West
Team | W-L | Pct. | GB | H | A | RF | RA | Str |
Dornbirn Indians | 4-0 | 1.000 | – | 4-0 | 0-0 | 21 | 10 | W4 |
Hard Bulls | 1-1 | .500 | 2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 21 | 15 | L1 |
Attnang-Puchheim A’s | 1-3 | .250 | 3 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 10 | 14 | W1 |
Feldkirch Cardinals | 1-3 | .250 | 3 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 15 | 52 | L2 |