Some familiar faces stepped up big on opening weekend, as the Crabs took two of three games against the Fairfield Indians, including a rain-delayed 8-2 win to close out the series Sunday.
Returning pitcher John Austin, a sophomore out of San Jose State, held the visitors to one run in five innings work for the win in the series finale, but that was far from his only contribution. With just eight position players available to manager Matt Nutter for the weekend, Austin, who was the team's co-Pitcher of the Year in 2009, was forced into action at the plate on Saturday, and as fate would have it, he laid claim to the first Crabs home run of 2010, and adding a double in four at-bats.
Eureka's Brad Morgan, another returning player, also had a big opening weekend, as the Crabs took the series opener 10-1 Saturday afternoon, before dropping the second end of a doubleheader 8-5.
Morgan finished with five hits on the weekend and drove in four runs, while another local, Andrew Ayers, made some noise in his Crabs debut, starting all three games and registering three hits.
Among the newcomers to impress on the opening weekend, Sac State junior Justin Lamb started all three games and finished with a team-high six hits, including four doubles.
Jeff Johnson, a sophomore out of Ohlone College, also had six hits over the three games, as the Crabs bats opened strong with 23 runs on 37 hits.
On the mound, as expected, Chris DeBoo started this season much the same as he finished last year, with a solid performance in the opener.
Photos from this weekend have been posted on our Facebook page. The Crabs will host the Portland Pirates Wednesday night at 7 before opening a weekend stand with the Fontanetti Athletics on Friday.
