Gold Sox buckle in 9th

A pitcher's duel for five innings didn't exactly play out the way the Marysville Gold Sox had hoped.

After taking a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning, the Gold Sox allowed five runs to the California Glory of Lodi, and eventually fell 7-4 on Friday at Appeal-Democrat Park.

The loss dropped Marysville's record to 22-7 overall, 20-7 in the Horizon Air Summer Series and snapped a winning streak at six games.

Starting pitcher Ty Nichols had a solid start. He went seven innings and allowed just two runs in the fifth inning when Tyler Shepherd drove in a pair of runs with a single.

The Gold Sox battled back, however.

Tommy Lininger drove in Casey Scott with an RBI single in the sixth to make the score 2-1.

In the seventh inning, Mitchell Wilhite hit a two-run home run after Tino Quiñones walked, giving the Gold Sox a 3-2 lead.

Brandon Creel picked up Nichols' effort and shut down the Glory in the seventh and eighth innings.

In the eighth, Lininger added some insurance with a solo home run to make the score 4-2. It was the 18th homer by the Gold Sox this season, which inches them closer to the club's single-season record of 21, which was set by last year's team.

But the wheels fell off in the ninth.

A pair of errors, four hits and five runs later and the Marysville Gold Sox were all but finished.

The win lifted the Glory to a record of 20-12 and 9-7.

The Gold Sox welcome in the San Luis Obispo Rattlers today and Sunday.