Australian Baseball League

SYDNEY, 29 December - A combination of four Sydney Blue Sox (16-13) pitchers combined to hold the Adelaide Bite proudly supported by SA Power Networks (13-16) to two hits while James Robbins once again delivered a game-winning hit in a 2-1 Sydney win Saturday night at Blue Sox Stadium.

Tim Cox threw five no-hit innings before Wayne Lundgren, Dae-Sung Koo and Matt Williams combined for four shutout innings in relief. The big blow was provided by Robbins for the second straight night, launching the game-winning, solo home run just inside the right field foul pole in the sixth inning to put the Sox ahead 2-1.

"I thought Cox did real well tonight," Blue Sox manager Jason Pospishil said. "Unfortunately we had to pull him out of the game even with his no-hitter going, but he's had some elbow tenderness so we wanted to be on the safe side."

Adelaide notched a run first without registering a hit in the third inning. With two outs Jeremy Cresswell walked and then stole second base, before coming around to score on an error for a 1-0 lead.

The Sox tied the game in the fourth inning when Mitch Dening singled and David Kandilas and Geoff Klein walked back-to-back to load the bases. That brought up Zac Shepherd, who earned a walk to drive in Dening and even the score at 1-1. That set the scene for Robbins, who launched his third home run of the year.

"Robbins is making a bit of a habit of getting game-winning hits," Pospishil said. "Our bats haven't been great the last two nights but our pitching has done a fantastic job of giving us chances to win."

Lundgren (1-1) picked up the win with two shutout innings, while Williams added to his league-leading save total with his 11th of the year. Over the last two games, the Sox pitching staff has allowed just seven hits. Paul Mildren (1-5) took the loss, surrendering two runs on six hits and four walks in five innings of work.

Robbins and Kandilas led the seven-hit attack for Sydney, each finishing with two hits. Dening, Klein and Zach Penprase added in the final three hits to close the tally.

Sydney and Adelaide conclude their four-game series tomorrow afternoon. Right-hander Tim Atherton (1-1, 2.57 ERA) will start for Sydney, while righty Dushan Ruzic (2-2, 3.99) starts for Adelaide. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.