Wednesday night, the State College Spikes were in the thick of the New York-Penn League wild-card race after a streak of four wins in five games.
But 24 hours later, the Spikes' playoff hopes took a big hit after a Kyle Jensen walk-off homer gave the Jamestown Jammers (28-38) a 3-2 11-inning win that finished off a doubleheader sweep of the Spikes.
Just hours after a disastrous fifth inning cost State College (33-33) a 4-2 loss to the Jammers in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Spikes came back to erase a two-run deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning, and eventually pushed the game to extra innings.
State College even had fantastic relief pitching from Alan Knotts (3-3), who pitched 3.1 innings of one-hit ball to keep the game tied.
That was, until the Jamestown left fielder Jensen led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a home run to left field that won the game for the Jammers.
Jensen's walk-off home run was a frustrating final blow for State College, which lost Game 1 after Spikes reliever Mike Williams had a fifth inning meltdown.
Williams allowed four runs -- two earned -- in two-thirds of an inning.
Game 2 wasn't fairing much better for the Spikes early on, as the Jammers held a 2-0 lead through four innings.
But the Spikes staged a comeback against Jamestown starter Casey Fry.
After Fry no-hit the Spikes through four innings, State College finally broke through. Shortstop Elevys Gonzalez got an infield hit that scored Pat Irvine and brought the Spikes to within one.
State College would tie the game the next inning when second baseman Brock Holt, playing in his first game in almost a week, scored on a Justin Byler RBI double to tie the game 2-2.
The Spikes had chances to win the game in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't convert.
State College loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and couldn't get a run home and Gonzalez was thrown out at home in the ninth trying to score on a Butch Biela single.
Not only does the loss send the Spikes back to .500, but it may have gone a long way towards knocking the Spikes out of the wildcard chase. State College's two losses and another Staten Island win leaves the Spikes 5.5 games back of the wildcard-leading Yankees.
With Williamsport's loss Thursday night, the Crosscutters now are in danger of falling out of the race themselves. Williams port sits 2.5 games back of the Yankees entering play Friday, making this weekend's series between the Crosscutters and Spikes crucial for both.
