LINCOLN — Marquis Fleming was fantastic and Jon Gaston huge at the plate as the Saltdogs (41-35) shutout the Sioux Falls Canaries (26-53) 4-0 in front of 4,169 fans at Haymarket Park for their sixth consecutive victory.
Fleming (9-3) pitched seven innings, allowing just five hits while using his devastating circle-change to strike out nine and walk two. The All-Star has won each of his last five starts.
Gaston went 2-for-4 with a RBI double – to put Lincoln in front 1-0 in the third – and a gargantuan two-run homer to right center (his 6th) – to extend Lincoln's lead in the fifth.
Conor Spink and Trey Barham combined to throw the final two scoreless frames running Lincoln's series shutout total to 17 straight innings.
Joe Bircher (3-7), a Roncalli Catholic (Omaha) grad, allowed three runs in five innings to suffer the loss.
Ian Gac went 3-for-3 to extend his hit streak to 19 games, tied for second longest in franchise history (22 is the record).
Lincoln goes for its seventh straight win Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. RHP Justin Kuks (4-3, 5.55) is slated to pitch against RHP Ben Moore (5-5, 5.10). Radio coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. on KFOR 1240.