When Brian Leach takes the mound for the State College Spikes, it's usually an indication of a smooth 65-pitch outing.

This wasn't the case last night in State College's 8-5 loss to Mahoning Valley at Eastwood Field. The loss was the Spikes 10th straight and drops them to 9-35, which is a winning percentage of .204.

The damage was already done before Leach entered the game in the fifth inning, however. Mahoning Valley, aided by a two-run home run by first baseman Robert Alcombrack, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning. The Scrappers added two more runs to make the game 6-2 when Leach came in.

Uncharacteristically, Leach was hittable in his outing.

In 2.2 innings, Leach allowed seven hits and two runs. Only one of the runs was earned.

Perhaps one of the reasons for Leach's outing was because he was piggybacking starter Ramon Aguero.

"I love starting," Leach said last Wednesday. "I mean, it's always fun to come into the game. But yeah, starting, I get to have the game go my way."

In his last three appearances, Leach allowed a total of seven hits.

Leach's pitching didn't affect the outcome of the game, though.

State College managed nine hits against Mahoning Valley but also left nine men on base.

The Spikes scored their first run in the top of third when they had runners on the corners with no outs. Only one of those runners, right fielder David Rubinstein, scored.

The theme continued during the next inning. Left fielder Quincy Latimore doubled and catcher Miguel Mendez singled with one out. Again, they were only able to squeeze one run out of the inning when Latimore was singled home by Rubinstein. Rubinstein, who had been in a major slump throughout the entire season, had three hits last night.

In the seventh inning, the Spikes were able to score two runs. Rubinstein led off with a double and scored on shortstop Andy Vasquez's single. Vasquez came around to score on Jeremy Farrell's double.

That brought State College within three runs of the Scrappers but in the bottom of the inning Mahoning Valley gained back the run, though it was unearned.

State College brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after designated hitter Calvin Anderson singled in a run. But that tying run, Latimore, struck out swinging.

Today, the Spikes are off. They will resume the Saw-Buck series with Williamsport tomorrow at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.