Winnipeg 13, Sioux City 2 – Box
With the help of 16 hits, Winnipeg cruised by Sioux City 13-2 Thursday night. Winnipeg SS Josh Mazzola hit a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Goldeyes a 3-0 lead. Winnipeg followed that up by scoring three more runs in the second inning – CF Adam Heisler and LF Jon Weber had RBI-singles while 1B Casey Haerther added an RBI after a fielder’s choice.
Sioux City finally got a run on the board in the when RF Rene Tosoni hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-1. CF Matty Johnson scored an unearned run in the seventh to make it 7-2. But Winnipeg pushed ahead with a huge five-run inning in the bottom of the seventh. 2B Brad Boyer hit an RBI-single and C Luis Alen hit a grand-slam.
St. Paul 5 Lincoln 2 – Box
St. Paul used 11 hits to defeated Lincoln 5-2 Thursday night. Saints 1B Ian Gac gave St. Paul a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run homer. Saltdogs C Ryan Wiggins hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 2-1 Saints. Wiggins then came back in the seventh inning to hit an RBI-single to tie the score at 2-2.
But not to be outdone, Gac came to the plate in the eighth and hit his second homer of the night, but this time, it was a three-run shot to give St. Paul at 5-2 lead.
St Paul starting pitcher Dustin Crenshaw went seven innings and gave up 10 hits. Saltdogs starting pitcher Kevin McGovern went seven innings and also gave up 10 hits.
Amarillo 7, Grand Prairie 2 – Box
Amarillo used a huge first inning to defeat Grand Prairie 7-2 Thursday night. The Thunderheads scored six runs in the first inning thanks to and RBI-single by Geraldo Valentin and RBI-doubles by RF Stefan Gatrell, CF Juan Martinez, 3B Taylor Smart (two-RBI), and SS Tyler Urps.
Grand Prairie scored runs in the first and third inning to cut the lead to 6-2 Amarillo. But Amarillo 1B Rene Leveret hit an RBI-single in the fourth to extend the lead to 7-2. The AirHogs had 11 hits in the game, but could never get a rally started. The Thunderheads had 10 hits with two hits each by Gatrell and Martinez. 2B Jamodrick McGruder and 1B Victor Diaz led the AirHogs with three hits each. Amarillo starting pitcher Clay Chapman went 6.2 innings, gave up two runs and struck-out two batters.
Fargo-Moorhead 3, Gary SouthShore 1 – Box
Fargo-Moorhead only needed three early runs to defeat Gary SouthShore Thursday night. SS Zach Penprase had an RBI-groundout and LF Chad Mozingo and RF Joe Dunigan hit RBI-singles to make it 3-0 RedHawks after three innings. The RailCats made it 3-1 in the fifth inning after SS Ryan Brockett hit an RBI-single. Fargo-Moorhead had a chance to add insurance runs in the eighth. They had bases loaded with two outs but could not convert.
RedHawks starting pitcher Joe Harris went six innings, gave up only two hits, one earned run and struck-out two batters. Fargo-Moorhead had nine hits in the game but the RailCats only managed to get three hits. Each team had one error.
Joplin 9, Laredo 8 (12 innings) – Box
Joplin defeated Laredo 9-8 Thursday night, in a continuation of yesterday’s game, which was suspended due to league curfew.
After an error by the Laredo shortstop, Blaster 2B Omar Luna scored an unearned run to give Joplin a 9-8 lead in the top of the 12th inning. In the bottom of the 12th, the Lemurs had men on first and second with just one out. But Joplin’s Gabe Aguilar got the next Laredo batter to ground into a double play to secure the win.
Laredo 2, Joplin 1 – Box
Laredo scored two runs in the first and it turned out to be enough to defeated Joplin Thursday night. After an unearned run by CF D’Vontrey Richardson, LF Denis Phipps hit an RBI-single to give Laredo a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Blasters 1B Carlos Ramirez hit an RBI-single in the third inning to cut the Lemurs’ lead to 2-1, but neither team could produce any offense for the rest of the game.
Laredo starting pitcher Steve Garner went seven innings, gave up one run, and struck-out four batters. Joplin starting pitcher Jake Meiers went six innings, gave up six hits and struck-out just one batter. Both the Blasters and the Lemurs had seven hits and one error.
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