Perth, WA - The Bandit bats came out in full force tonight by scoring 16 runs en route to a convincing victory in the Heat's home opener.

The Bandits wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning as leadoff hitter Drew Whitefield got a base hit to right field, stole second, and advanced to third on an overthrow by Heat catcher Zacrey Law. Whitefield later scored on an RBI groundout by third baseman TJ Bennett to give the Bandits the 1 to 0 lead.

In the top of the second inning, the Bandits added another run when first baseman Wade Dutton came up with a clutch two-out base hit up the middle, extending the Bandit lead to 2 to 0.

The Bandits put another run on the scoreboard in the third inning when Bennett launched a mammoth homer deep into the Perth night to extend the Bandits lead to 3 to 0. Brisbane wasn't done in the third as Andrew Campbell stepped up the plate with runners on second and third two outs and knocked both runners in on a slicing double down the left field line. Joining the hit party for Brisbane was catcher Adam Weisenburger, who drove home Campbell on a blooper over the third baseman's head to push the lead to 6 to 0.

It was all zeroes on the scoreboard for the Heat until the bottom of the third inning when first baseman Luke Hughes roped a two-run off-the-wall double to inch the Heat closer at a score of 6 to 2. Next up was third baseman Michael Brosseau who drove home Hughes on a line drive single to left field for the Heat's third run of the frame.

The Heat continued to gain momentum in the bottom of the fifth when centerfielder Jake Fraley led off with a base hit, stole second, then scored on a single by third baseman Tim Kennelly to bring the score to 6 to 4. Back-to-back walks by Garrett Whitley and Luke Hughes loaded the bases and chased starting pitcher Ryan Bollinger from the game.

Reliever Zac Treece came in with the bases loaded and ran into control problems of his own, walking Brosseau, bringing in another run for the Heat and making it a one-run game. Treece hunkered down after that and struck out the side with the bases loaded to get out the inning with the one-run lead.

After inching within one run, the Bandits bats reemerged as they scored eight runs in the next two innings, highlighted by a three-run smash by Donald Lutz to make the game out of hand at 14 to 5.

All in all, the Brisbane Bandits would run away with this one, winning by a score of 16 to 9.

Heat pitchers struggled to throw strikes tonight as they issued 12 walks on the night, which played a huge part in the Bandits' offensive outburst. Manager Andy Kyle talked about these unforced errors.

"You can't afford to give away that many free passes and expect to win." 

The Heat will have two more cracks at the defending champion Brisbane Bandits tomorrow when they square off Harley Davidson stadium, with the first game starting at 4:00 p.m.