AVON — On two first-inning runs, the Crushers avoided a three-game sweep by the Oakland County Cruisers with a 2-0, seven-inning win Monday night.

“I’ll take a shutout and a win,” Manager John Massarelli said.

The game was shortened to seven innings to compensate for the resumption of Game 2 of the series, which was suspended on Sunday due to inclement weather. Frontier League rules mandate any game scheduled after the completion of a suspended game must be shortened to seven innings.

Faced with an abbreviated game, the Crushers didn’t waste any time in the first.

No. 3 hitter, third baseman Andrew Davis, singled to right-center field, but Cruisers right fielder Robbie Tolan fumbled the ball enabling shortstop Jodam Rivera and Davis to score the only runs the Crushers needed to earn the win.

Rivera doubled with one out in the first to setup the scoring play.

Crushers pitching needed only two runs to earn the win, their first in the last four games.

Crushers’ starter Travis Risser worked five innings, struck out four and allowed only three hits to combine with closer JJ Pacella on the shutout victory. Risser threw 100 pitches to earn his fourth win of the season. Pacella closed out the Cruisers to pick up a two-inning save – his third of the season.

“He threw 100 pitches in five innings,” Massarelli said. “He had to work his butt off to get through those five shutout innings. He pitched around their best hitter (designated hitter Jeremy Jones) a little bit, and got him to hit his pitches. Travis pitched, he didn’t just throw tonight.”

The shortened game didn’t affect Risser’s typical workman approach to pitching.

“It didn’t affect my stuff,” Risser said. “It made me thinking to go out there and win this game. I wasn’t trying to go out all seven. The first inning I felt good, but I couldn’t locate my fastball today, so I was throwing a lot more sliders and changeups than usual. That’s why I was getting deeper into pitch counts.”

Both Risser and Pacella ran into trouble in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively. Risser, a converted starter, allowed a walk to Cruisers third baseman Kyle Maunus and a ground-rule double to left fielder Bobby Andrews in the fourth, but was able to record the final out of the inning to preserve the Crushers’ bid for a shutout win.

“I fist-pumped when that ground-rule double happened,” Risser said. “I was like, ‘get out of play,” because I knew that guy (Maunus) was probably scoring from first.”

In the sixth, Pacella surrendered a leadoff double to Cruisers first baseman Joash Brodin and a single to third baseman Kyle Maunus, but managed to retire the next three batters to end the sixth. Pacella was flawless in the seventh, retiring the side in order.

Lake Erie missed an opportunity extend its lead in the second inning, with Cruisers starter Kevin Asselin allowing the first three hitters of the inning to reach base. With the bases loaded and no outs, catcher Julio Rivera struck out swinging, center fielder Dom Duggan struck out looking and Rivera grounded out to first to end the threat.

That was the most legitimate scoring opportunity the Crushers had Monday as they were retired in order the remaining four innings they batted.

“We didn’t do a very good job with runners in scoring position,” Massarelli said. “That’s going to happen. If you keep the pitching and defense, and then the hitting gets going, that’s when you reel off your streaks. We were able to put a streak together last week because we were hitting, and our pitching and defense stayed pretty consistent. That’s a big key.”