Long Island Ducks take rubber game in Staten Island series

A seven-run first inning powered the Long Island Ducks past the Staten Island FerryHawks in Sunday’s rubber game, turning a tight three-game set into a series win for Long Island. The burst gave the Ducks the final word in Staten Island and sent them home with the kind of getaway-day result that can steady a club after an uneven start to a road trip.

Tanner Jacobson helped make the early lead stand by throwing five innings of two-run ball. Wilmer Difo also turned in a big day at the plate, giving Long Island the offensive lift it needed after the opening inning had already put the FerryHawks in a hole.

The finish mattered because the series had already swung back and forth before Long Island landed the decisive blow. Staten Island’s own social posts pointed to a 5-3 win on Sunday evening and a split in the set, a sign of how close the matchup stayed until the Ducks separated themselves early. Long Island’s win also fit a rivalry that has stretched across multiple seasons, with the FerryHawks’ history page tracking games between the clubs from May 17, 2022, through June 20, 2024.

For the Ducks, the result landed in a 2026 season that opened April 21 and began in front of a sellout crowd. It also came on the heels of another statement against Staten Island, when Long Island said it won the 2026 Battle of the Belt with a 12-1 victory over the FerryHawks. In a league where the next roster and the next three-game set can look different almost immediately, closing out a road series behind a seven-run first inning and five strong frames from Jacobson gave Long Island exactly the sort of answer teams want before turning the page to the next series.