LAKEWOOD, NJ - The Grasshoppers survived the completion of yesterday's suspended contest, holding their lead to win by a final of 3-1 before falling victims to a strong performance by Lakewood starter Heitor Correa and dropping the seven-inning nightcap 5-2.

Lefty reliever Andrew Loomis (2-2) took the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning for the completion of yesterday's suspended matchup.  Beginning the inning with runners on the corners and one out, Loomis drilled the first hitter he faced to load the bases.  A sacrifice fly in the next at-bat plated the BlueClaws' first run, but Lakewood failed to mount any further offensive threat in the inning as Jim Murphy popped out to right field to end the inning.

Loomis retired Lakewood in order in the following inning, recording three of his four K's in the sixth inning by striking out the side.  A scoreless seventh frame ended the day for Loomis, who finished his near-perfect outing by holding the BlueClaws hitless in 2 2/3 innings while allowing just one walk and hit-batsman.

There was little offense by either team in the final four innings of play, with the BlueClaws scattering four Hoppers' singles while Loomis and Pete Andrelczyk combined to thwart any comeback chances by holding Lakewood hitless.

Andrelczyk picked up his 13^th save of the season, a four-out job that saw him sit-down all six in succession, retiring four via the strikeout.

The shortened second-game began much in the same way that the day's first game ended.  BlueClaws' starter Heitor Correa (6-2) came out firing, striking out the side in the first inning en route to retiring 10 of the first 11 Hoppers he faced.

Torre Langley finally broke up the no-no in the third with a ground single up the middle, but was left stranded on first after another strikeout and fly ball brought Lakewood back to the dugout for the bottom half.

A leadoff double began the BlueClaws' two-run third, while a single and throwing error put runners at second and third with nobody out.  Lefty Brad Hand (3-9) forced a fly out in foul territory, but saw the speedy D'Arby Myers score from third on the fly.  A wild pitch to the next hitter plated the second run of the inning, as control became an issue after Hand walked Anthony Gose in the same at-bat.  Hand picked off Gose at first to erase the walk and forced a sky out to the finish the frame with minimal damage.

The Hoppers cut the lead in half in their following at-bat, manufacturing one run after table-setter Kevin Mattison reached on a bunt single and swiped second to move into scoring position.  Back-to-back groundouts brought Kevin Mattison around to score, as the Hoppers plated their first run without ever hitting the ball out of the infield.

The visiting Hoppers would tack-on one more in the sixth inning, as Mattison once again set the table for the stumbling offense.  A single by Jeremy Synan single advanced Mattison to third, and sent Correa to the showers after an impressive two-run, eight-strikeout performance.

Jake Smolinski welcomed reliever Ryan Bergh with an RBI single to score Mattison, whose 2-3 day extended his hitting-streak to seven games.

But Mattison and the Hoppers couldn't fend off the Lakewood offense, as the BlueClaws padded their lead with two runs off Hand in the fifth and added an unearned insurance run in the sixth to down the Hoppers 5-2 in the nightcap.

With the split, the Hoppers (39-38) take on Lakewood in the series finale tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m.  Following the finale, the Grasshoppers travel back to Greensboro to prepare for their July 4^th contest against the Lake County Captains.

The Independence Day matchup will begin at 7:05 p.m., with gates opening at 6:00 p.m. and fireworks immediately following the game.