Photo caption - Rockland Boulders Designated Hitter Marcus Nidiffer's three-run homer powered the Rockland Boulders to a 6-3 victory over the Sussex County Miners at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, NJ, on Friday night. (credit - Drew Wohl, Rockland Boulders)

Boxscore - http://canam.wttbaseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=447688

Marcus Nidiffer’s three-run homer powered the Rockland Boulders to their first victory of the 2018 season, a 6-3 decision over the Sussex County Miners at Skylands Stadium. Tommy Lawrence allowed three runs over six solid innings to earn the win, while Kevin Krause drove in a pair as the teams both stand at 1-1 on the young season.

After falling in Thursday’s opener in Rockland by a 10-3 count, the Boulders jumped on top with a pair in the third off Sussex County starter Gianni Zayas. JC Rodriguez started the rally with a one out walk and Alex Herceg reached on an error by second baseman Mikey Reynolds.  Jared McDonald’s tapper to first advanced both runners and Krause’s two-run single gave the Boulders their first lead of the season.

Sussex County answered with three in the home half when singles by Martin Figueroa, Reynolds, and Jared Mederos trimmed the gap to 2-1. After a walk to Jacye Ray, Audy Ciriaco singled in a pair to stake the Miners to a 3-2 advantage.

Lawrence settled down from there and the Boulders regained the lead with a big fifth inning, starting with a beautiful push bunt by Jared McDonald to put the leadoff man on. One out later, Krause walked and Cody Regis tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single. That set the table for Nidiffer, whose blast deep into the left-centerfield gap put Rockland on top to stay and closed out the scoring for the game.

Rockland’s bullpen, which struggled on Opening Night, did the rest after Lawrence left having allowed three runs and scattering six hits. Matt Kostalos, Garrett Johnson, and Kyle Hansen each worked a scoreless frame, with Hansen earning his first save of the season.

The remainder of the five-game series shifts back to Palisades Credit Union Park, with a 6:30 twi-night double-header on tap Saturday night and Sunday’s finale set for a 1:35 first pitch.