LINCOLN, NE – The Saltdogs made things interesting in the later innings but a _ spot in the top of the ninth paved the way for a 10-4 Sioux City win in the finale.
C Max Hewitt reached three times including a run scored and driven in. It is Hewitt’s eighth RBI of the season, he also stole a base.
INF Alex Baeza recorded a two-hit night with a pair of singles, he also came around to score a run in the eighth inning.
RHP Pablo Arevalo tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen giving up one hit and walking one batter.
Sioux City opened up the scoring early and often in the series finale with one run in the first, two in the second, and one in the third. Lincoln has now let the opposition score the first 26 times in 2024, their record is 8-18 in those games.
The Saltdogs got a run back in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to three on an INF Jack Dragum RBI ground out scoring Hewitt.
Both teams took a break from scoring until the seventh with the Explorers plating two in the top half and Lincoln responding with two unearned in the bottom half.
The Saltdogs would score one more in the eighth after LHP David Zoz went 1-2-3 in the top half of the frame. Baeza would score on Hewitt’s fielder’s choice.
Sioux City would go one to break it open in the ninth inning with four runs to make it a six-run game. INF Spencer Henson kept the game going with a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, but that would be it for Lincoln as they dropped the series finale.
Lincoln opens up a three-game set with Gary SouthShore Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Haymarket Park.
Catch every Saltdogs game home and away on KFOR FM 101.5/1240 AM, or stream live for free on aabaseball.tv, new for the 2024 season.