UVV appeared to be in a good position today after taking an early 3-0 lead in the second inning.
Hoofddorp Pioniers came back, took over the lead, but that also was erased, as UVV came alongside.
And so, the game not only went on to end in a tie, but also became the longest regular season-game ever.
The top of the first inning had two errors, no runs, but also two caught stealings.
For UVV, lead-off hitter Malcolm Marlin reached on an error off of starter Sem Lauf.
With one out, he was caught stealing.
With two outs, Quin Cotton walked, then also appeared to be eliminated at second base, but there, an error was made.
However, according to the scoring rules, this not only is an error, but also a caught stealing.
With Cotton on second base, the inning ended when short stop Vincent Mevissen caught a line drive, hit by Jorge Luis Espinal Ventura.
UVV then opened the score with three unearned runs in the top of the second inning.
With one out, Stefan Kuipers reached on an error and then the bases got loaded when both Aaron Isenia and Etienne van Tielraden singled.
Hereafter, Isenia was forced out at third base on a grounder by Lucas Bekker, but in the meantime, Kuipers scored the first run.
UVV got the bases loaded again when next batter Malcom Marlin walked.
Two runs were then added when Ryan Wheat delivered his first big league-basehit.
The American had made his debut in the first game on Wednesday, but he was 0-for-3 in that match-up.
UVV left runners behind on first and third base, but the team had taken a 3-0 lead.
In the next four innings, UVV got only two more runners into scoring position.
After being retired in order in the third, UVV got its next runner with two outs in the fourth when Lucas Bekker reached second base on an error.
He was left behind there.
In the top of the fifth, lead-off hitter Ryan Wheat reached on an error, stole second base and moved to third base when a pick-off by the catcher ended in another error.
With that, the Pioniers-defense had now committed six errors, which included an error by each one of the infielders, except the pitcher.
Wheat stranded on third base and UVV was retired in order again in the sixth.
In the meantime, UVV-starter Allard Helms kept Pioniers scoreless in five innings.
The team left five runners behind in scoring position, two each in both the first and second inning.
With one out in the first, Terrance Heemskerk doubled and moved on a grounder.
With two outs, Duncan Beljaards walked and stole second base.
A flyout ended the at bat.
In the bottom of the second, Pioniers got its first two batters on base when Vincent Mevissen and Miquel Willem both walked.
With one out, the bases got loaded when Helms hit Bodhi de Vreede with a pitch.
Helms then followed with a strikeout and a force play-grounder ended the at bat.
With one out in the fourth inning, Miquel Willem singled and stole second base with two outs.
Bodhi de Vreede then walked and Jack van Gorkum followed with an infield-hit that was touched by Helms, but ended at second baseman Lucas Bekker.
He had no chance of eliminating Van Gorkum, but when Willem tried to score, Bekker threw the ball to catcher Etienne van Tielraden.
Willem got into a rundown and was tagged out by third baseman Ryan Wheat (1-4-2-5), which ended the at bat.
Pioniers then came back into the game in the bottom of the sixth by scoring two runs.
After lead-off hitter Vincent Mevissen reached on an error, a pitching change followed.
Gijs van den Brink took over, but he uncorked a wild pitch, then saw Mevissen advance on a single by Miquel Willem, who next stole second base.
Van den Brink struckout the next batter, but both runners then scored on a single by Bodhi de Vreede.
Another strikeout followed, then Terrance Heemskerk walked.
However, Pioniers left runners behind on second and third base, as Van den Brink closed with his third strikeout.
In the top of the seventh, it was UVV that left a runner behind in scoring position.
With one out, Sem Lauf walked Malcolm Marlin.
He then got a flyout and was relieved by Sem Nijman.
Marlin stole second base, but the lefthander closed by striking out Quin Cotton.
In the bottom of the seventh, Pioniers again scored twice to take a 4-3 lead.
Duncan Beljaards and Michael Dumitrescu both walked, which led to another pitching change.
Reangelo Willems took over from Gijs van den Brink and got two quick outs.
A bunt-attempt ended in a flyout, then a pop-fly became an infield-fly.
But with two outs, the two runners adcanced on a passed ball, then both scored on a single by pinch-hitter Andreas Meijer.
He was later caught stealing, but Pioniers now had taken the lead.
That lead was erased in the top of the eighth.
Jorge Luis Espinal Ventura led off with a walk and advanced to third base on a single by J'mar Calliste.
That led to another pitching change, as Maarten Smit relieved Sem Nijman.
Also, Timoty Rojas was inserted as pinch-runner for Calliste.
Moments later, a balk was called and so, Espinal was awarded home plate and with that, he scored the tying run.
Rojas moved to second base and later stranded on third base, but the score was now 4-4.
From here, both teams got several runners in scoring position.
Both teams got the bases loaded once, UVV in the tenth, Pioniers in the twelfth inning.
However, no more runs were added.
In the top of the ninth, UVV had runners on first and second base, but Maarten Smit then closed by striking out Timothy Rojas.
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...Rookie Sven Dobbe (left) and veteran Marco Stoovelaar...
...were the Official Scorers in this longest game ever...
(© Photos: Marco Stoovelaar (left) & Jan Kruijdenberg (right)) |
Pioniers got runners on first and second base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but they were left behind.
The team then got its first two batters on base in the bottom of the ninth.
First, Michael Dumitrescu was hit by a pitch, then a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Daniel Heiligers ended in an error.
That brought in new pitcher Aaron Isenia.
The lefthander retired the next three batters, including two strikeouts and with that, the game went into extra innings.
In the tenth inning, UVV got the bases loaded.
Stefan Kuipers led off with a single and with two outs, an error was made on what would have been a force play-grounder by Lucas Bekker.
A walk for Malcolm Marlin loaded the bases, but a grounder ended the at bat.
Pioniers left runners behind on first and second base in its tenth at bat and both teams were retired in order in the eleventh inning.
The top of the twelfth inning began with a great catch from leftfielder Michael Dumitrescu on a drive by Stefan Kuipers.
With two outs, Etienne van Tielraden singled, but a foul pop-up ended the inning.
Pioniers then got the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the twelfth, which began with three force play-grounders.
Bodhi de Vreede led off with a single, but was forced out on a grounder by Jack van Gorkum, who then also was forced out on a following grounder by Terrance Heemskerk.
The same appeared to be happen to Heemskerk on a grounder by Daan Terstall, but an error was made and Pioniers got two baserunners.
A walk for Duncan Beljaards then loaded the bases.
That brought Michael Dumitrescu in the batter's box, who would be the final batter of this game, whatever happened.
Either he would bring in the winning run or would be eliminated, as regular season-games in the Dutch baseball-leagues end after twelve complete innings.
Aaron Isenia struckout Dumitrescu.
With that, the game ended with a 4-4 tie, but it had become the longest regular season-game ever.
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Hoofddorp Pioniers and UVV play tie in longest game ever
HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
The second game between Hoofddorp Pioniers and UVV ended with a 4-4 tie after twelve innings in what was the longest regular season-game ever with four hours and 38 minutes played.
In the opener on Wednesday-evening, Pioniers won with a 7-3 score.
Today, UVV scored three runs in the second inning to take an early lead.
Although Pioniers got several scoring opportunities, the lead appeared to be comfortable.
But Pioniers then scored twice in the sixth and seventh inning.
UVV came alongside in the eighth and so, the game went into extra innings in which both teams remained scoreless.
With 4 hours and 38 minutes, this is the longest regular season game ever (including mercy-rule and extra inning).