Sioux Falls, South Dakota– Wednesday night, the Lincoln Saltdogs earned their first victory of the season in a 12-4 decision over the Sioux Falls Canaries, at Sioux Falls Stadium. With the win, Lincoln evened the mid-week, three-game series at one game apiece, with the “Rubber Game” slated for Thursday morning.
Lincoln (1-4) scored 12 runs off 14 hits and committed no errors. Sioux Falls (2-3) had four runs, seven hits and committed three errors.
The night did not start well for Lincoln, as starting pitcher Cam Wynne faced just one batter, recording a strikeout, however he injured his throwing arm and had to leave the game. Nate Blain came on in relief and the first batter he faced, Calvin Estrada, hit a solo home run over the left-field fence, to put Sioux Falls ahead, 1-0.
The Saltdogs responded in the top of the third. Derek Maiben led off with a single, against Sioux Falls starter Seth Miller. Then, Kyle Battle singled. Three batters later, Brody Fahr hit an RBI single, scoring Maiben, to tie the game at 1-1.
Lincoln had its most productive inning of the season in the top of the fourth, sending ten batters to the plate and scoring six runs. Spencer Henson led off the inning with a single. Rolando Espinosa followed with a single, as well. Then, Jack Cone drew a walk, to load the bases. The next batter, Maiben, was hit by a pitch, bringing Henson home, to make it 2-1. Two batters later, Matt Phipps drew a bases loaded walk, to make it 3-1. Danny Bautista, Jr. reached on a fielder’s choice, which drove in Cone, to make it 4-1. Then, Brody Fahr hit an RBI double, scoring Maiben, to make it a 5-1 Lincoln lead. The next batter, Jack Dragum, hit a two-rbi single, plating Bautista Jr. and Fahr, to put Lincoln ahead 7-1.
Sioux Falls chipped away at the lead in the next three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Jabari Henry hit a solo home run off of Blain, to make the score 7-2.
Facing Lincoln reliever Franny Cobos, Sioux Falls’ Matt Ruiz hit a one-out double, then stole third base. The next batter, Ernny Ordonez hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Ruiz, to make the score 7-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Canaries’ Peter Zimmerman led off with a double, stole third, then scored on a wild pitch, to make it 7-4.
With the game beginning to be in question, the Saltdogs’ offense removed all doubt out of the eventual result in the top of the ninth by sending ten more batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Facing Canaries’ reliever Cade Torgerson, Rolando Espinosa led off by reaching on a throwing error from shortstop. Jack Cone drew a walk, then Derek Maiben singled, and Espinosa scored on an errant bobble in right field, to make the score 8-4. Two batters later, Matt Phipps singled to load the bases, again. The next batter, Danny Bautista, Jr., singled, driving in Cone, to make it 9-4. Brody Fahr followed with an RBI single, plating Maiben, to make the score 10-4. Then, Jack Dragum hit a two-rbi single, bringing in Phipps and Bautista, Jr., to make it a 12-4 Lincoln advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth, Lincoln reliever Jacob Roberts got a line out, a strike out and a ground out of Sioux Falls’ Jordan Barth to shortstop, to end the game.
Lincoln starting pitcher Cam Wynne lasted 0.1 inning, recording a strikeout, before exiting with the arm injury. Nate Blain (1-0) earned the win, pitching 3.2 innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs, no walks, struck out five and gave up two solo home runs. Franny Cobos pitched 1.2 innings, gave up three hits, two earned runs and had one strikeout. Matt Mullenbach worked 1.1 innings, yielding one hit and struck out one. Dutch Landis pitched 1.0 inning, gave up no hits, no runs and walked one. Jacob Roberts pitched 1.0 inning and struck out one.
For Sioux Falls, starter Seth Miller (0-1) pitched 5.0 innings, gave up eight hits, seven earned runs, walked two and struck out six. Christian Johnson pitched 2.0 innings, gave up one hit and struck out one. Cole LaLonde pitched 1.0 inning and walked three batters. Cade Torgerson pitched 1.0 inning, gave up five hits, five unearned runs, walked one and struck out two.
Offensively for Lincoln, Danny Bautista, Jr., was 1-for-5 with two RBI’s and scored two runs. Brody Fahr went 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI’s, a stolen base and scored a run. Jack Dragum was 2-for-5 with four runs batted in. Rolando Espinosa went 3-for-6, stole a base and scored two runs. Derek Maiben was 3-for-4 with an RBI and scored three times. Matt Phipps was 1-for-4 with a run batted in and scored one run.
For Sioux Falls, Calvin Estrada and Jabari Henry both went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, each.
The two teams will play the final game of the three-game series, Thursday morning at Sioux Falls Stadium. First pitch will be 11:05 a.m. The game will be broadcast on: www.aabaseball.tv, with coverage beginning at 10:50 a.m.
After the game on Thursday, Lincoln will return home and open its home schedule against the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Friday night, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m., at Haymarket Park. It will be Fireworks & FREE T-Shirt Friday, sponsored by Abante Marketing and Pepsi Cola of Lincoln. Fans can receive replica t-shirts of their favorite Saltdogs players, which will be thrown into the crowd during the game. Also, after the contest there will be a fireworks extravaganza. For tickets, promotional information and much more, visit: www.saltdogs.com.