Hoofddorp Pioniers reached base first in the top of the first inning off of Neptunus-starter Diegomar Markwell.
With one out, the lefthander gave up a single to Victor Draijer, who now has hit a basehit in each of the 18 games his team played so far this season.
Moments later, Draijer was eliminated when next batter Duco Nuijten grounded into a double play.
In the bottom of the first inning, Neptunus rallied for three runs off of Pioniers-starter Chris Pfau, who saw the first four batters reach base safely.
Stijn van der Meer led off with a single, then the bases got loaded when John Polonius walked and Dwayne Kemp also singled.
Gianison Boekhoudt followed with a double that led to two runs and a quick lead for Neptunus.
With runners on second and third base, Pfau struckout Dashenko Ricardo, but then gave up a runscoring single to Shaldimar Daantji that brought in the third run.
This inning also ended with a double play-grounder, but Neptunus had scored three runs.
In the second inning, Nathan Berkel reached on a bunt-single with one out for Pioniers.
But again, the inning ended with a double play.
Like in the first inning, short stop John Polonius and first baseman Benjamin Dille was involved, ut this one was started by Markwell.
In the third inning, Pioniers got into scoring position for the first time.
Jaison Gijsbertha led off with single, then moved to second base via a sacrifice bunt by Bram Stoovelaar.
With two outs, Mark Smit walked, but Markwell then closed with a strikeout.
Pioniers scored its first run in the top of the fourth.
Duco Nuijten led off with a single, then was awarded second base when a balk was called.
He then moved to third base on a single by Joey Eeman and scored on a grounder by Nathan Berkel.
Eeman was unable to advance on Berkel's grounder, then tried to move to third base on a following grounder by Jorrit Penseel back to Markwell and was eliminated.
Another strikeout ended the at bat.
Neptunus failed to add more distance after the first inning.
In the second at bat, three basehits were recorded, but no runs.
First, a line drive by lead-off hitter Darryl Collins was caught by first baseman Duco Nuijten.
Hereafter, Coco Johnson singled.
But the speedy runner was caught stealing moments later after a successful pick-off by Chris Pfau.
First baseman Duco Nuijten threw the ball to short stopBram Stoovelaar, who tagged Johnson out.
With two outs, Stijn van der Meer and John Polonius both singled.
They stranded, as next batter Dwayne Kemp grounded out.
With one out in the third, Dashenko Ricardo singled, but he was forced out.
With two outs, Benjamin Dille also singled, but was left behind, as the inning ended with rightfielder Nathan Berkel catching a fly by Darryl Collins.
Trailing 3-1, Pioniers scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
With one out, Raul Jacobs and Mark Smit singled.
Both scored when Victor Draijer followed with his first homerun of the season.
This was his second big league-homerun, but his first since July 27, 2018 when he hit one against Storks as player of Amsterdam Pirates.
The lead was shortlived, as Neptunus answered with two runs, which it again scored with two outs.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a single.
Moments later, pitcher , first baseman Duco Nuijten and short stop Bram Stoovelaar again executed a successful pick-off-caught-stealing, which eliminated the speedy Kemp.
Pfau followed with a strikeout, but then walked Dashenko Ricardo, gave up a single to Shaldimar Daantji and got the bases loaded when he hit Benjamin Dille.
Ricardo and Daantji then scored when next batter Darryl Collins singled.
Dille tried to advance to third base, but was eliminated there on a throw from rightfielder Nathan Berkel to first baseman Duco Nuijten to third baseman Jorrit Penseel.
That ended the inning, but now it was Neptunus that led, 5-4.
That lead also was shortlived, as Pioniers came alongside in the top of the sixth off of new pitcher Misja Harcksen.
With one out, Jorrit Penseel walked and scored the tying run on a 2-out pinch-hit triple by Max Draijer.
He stranded on third base, as Harcksen closed with his second strikeout in this inning.
Earlier, he struckout Jaison Gijsbertha, who was then ejected by Home Plate Umpire Edwin Louisa after making some remarks.
With the score now at 5-5, Nathan Diaby took over the Pioniers-pitching in the bottom of the sixth.
The righthander retired the side.
In the top of the seventh, Misja Harcksen gave up an one-out single to Victor Draijer, his third basehit tonight.
He stranded on first base, as a flyout and strikeout followed.
In the bottom of the seventh, Neptunus took the lead for the third time by scoring an unearned run.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a double.
With one out, he moved to third base on a wild pitch, then scored moments later on a passed ball.
Again, Pioniers reacted immediately by scoring a run in the top of the eighth inning.
That was done off of Kevin Kelly, who became the second Neptunus-pitcher tonight to be credited with a Blown Save.
With one out, Kelly walked Jorrit Penseel, who moved into scoring position on a 2-out single by Max Draijer.
The bases got loaded when Raul Jacobs walked.
Bodhi de Vreede, Penseel's pinch-runner, then scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Draijer and Jacobs were left behind on second and third base, as a grounder ended the at bat.
In the top of the ninth, Joey Eeman singled with two outs for Pioniers.
But Kelly then closed with a strikeout.
Neptunus got one more baserunner in the bottom of the eight.
With two outs, Stijn van der Meer walked, but a flyout ended the inning.
Nathan Diaby then retired the side in the ninth.
That also ended the game, as the 10:30 PM curfew-time had been reached.
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Opener Neptunus vs. Hoofddorp Pioniers ends in 9-inning tie
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
The series-opener between Curaçao Neptunus and Hoofddorp Pioniers ended in a 6-6 tie on Thursday-evening (September 3).
It was not possible to play extra innings, as the 10:30 PM curfew-rule came into effect after nine complete innings were played.
With that, the game ended.
The tie score also ended two winning streaks.
Neptunus had a streak of 17 consecutive wins, while Pioniers had won the last seven games in a row.
In tonight's series-opener, Neptunus took an early 3-0 lead, but trailed 4-3 halfway the fifth inning.
Neptunus then re-took the lead two more times in the following innings, but each time, Pioniers came back to come alongside.
While it drizzled frequently, there were no interruptions and the game could be completed.
Last season, two games of Pioniers ended in a tie, but for Neptunus, this was the first tie score in three years.
On May 18, 2017, a game between Neptunus and UVV finished with a 4-4 score in ten innings.
Jaison Gijsbertha (Hoofddorp Pioniers) ejected in top 6th inning by Home Plate Umpire Edwin Louisa for making remarks.