Neptunus vs Corendon Kinheim

The game was a pitcher's duel for seven innings. Kinheim starter Koen Van 't Klooster matched Sulbaran pitch for pitch, retiring the first nine Neptunus batters in order through three scoreless frames.

Neptunus broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Marnix Ruben reached on a fielding error by Kinheim second baseman Jayden Mohamed, then moved to third when Christian Diaz doubled to left. Dwayne Kemp brought Ruben home with a sacrifice fly to centre, and Neptunus led 1-0.

Van 't Klooster stranded a runner in the fifth and escaped a two-on jam in the sixth when Ruben was thrown out attempting to steal third. The Kinheim right-hander departed after seven innings having allowed just one unearned run on five hits with seven strikeouts across 83 pitches.

Neptunus broke the game open in the eighth. After Kinheim turned to reliever Finn Blokker, Bob van der Meer was hit by a pitch. Ruben singled, Stijn van der Meer sacrificed, and Diaz was intentionally walked to load the bases. Kemp then cleared them with a ground-rule double to left, scoring three runs. Sem Kuijper followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0.

Sulbaran retired nine of the last 10 Kinheim batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the shutout on 105 pitches.

Kinheim's decision to lift Van 't Klooster after seven innings and 83 pitches — trailing just 1-0 — backfired immediately. Reliever Finn Blokker faced three batters and recorded one out. By the time Daniel Vos stopped the bleeding, Neptunus had scored four runs on three hits. Kemp's bases-clearing double was the decisive blow.

Juan Carlos Sulbaran (Neptunus) — CG, 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 105 pitches. The veteran right-hander improved to 11-0 on the season with his second complete game.

Dwayne Kemp (Neptunus) — 1-for-3, double, 4 RBI, sacrifice fly. His eighth-inning double turned a tense one-run game into a rout.

Marnix Ruben (Neptunus) — 2-for-4, 2 runs scored. Reached base three times and scored Neptunus' first and last runs.

Koen Van 't Klooster (Kinheim) — L, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 7 K, 83 pitches. A tough-luck outing wasted by a fielding error and bullpen collapse.

The 5-0 final score understates how tight this game was. Neptunus managed only two hits through the first four innings and needed a Kinheim error to score their first run. Van 't Klooster struck out seven Neptunus batters — more than double Sulbaran's three — and his 0.00 earned-run average over seven innings reflected genuine dominance. The difference came down to one error, an intentional walk, and Kemp's one swing.

Neptunus finished with eight hits; Kinheim had five, none for extra bases.

Neptunus now leads the best-of-five semifinal 2-1, recovering from a Game 1 upset loss (7-2 on 20 Aug) with consecutive wins. Game 2 on 22 Aug ended 2-1 to the Rotterdammers at Pim Mulier Stadion in Haarlem, with Koen Postelmans earning the win and Ryan Huntington his 11th save. Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday, 29 August 2026 at Kinheim's Pim Mulier Stadion. If necessary, Game 5 would be back in Rotterdam on Sunday, 30 August.

Sulbaran delivered the defining performance of the Hoofdklasse playoffs so far, and Neptunus' pitching depth — Postelmans in Game 2 followed by Sulbaran's complete game in Game 3 — underlines why this team went 33-3 in the regular season. Kinheim's pitching held the Neptunus offence scoreless for 14 consecutive innings across Games 2 and 3 before cracking in the eighth. The series now hinges on whether Kinheim can rediscover the offence that produced seven runs in Game 1.