LINCOLN, Nebraska – Edgar Corcino went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a homer, but Kansas City’s Darnell Sweeney broke a tie with a leadoff homer in the 9th inning and the Lincoln Saltdogs lost 8-7 in the series finale with the Kansas City Monarchs at Haymarket Park on Thursday night.
Corcino had his second four-hit game of the season, but Lincoln led 4-0 after five innings and lost for only the second time when leading after five this year.
Lincoln (29-29) opened the scoring on an RBI single from Curt Smith in the 1st inning before Forrestt Allday hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 in the 2nd.
The ‘Dogs added two more on solo homers from Corcino and Allday in the 4th, but Kansas City (36-20) struck for three in the 6th on a solo homer from Darnell Sweeney and a two-run homer from Jan Hernandez.
Smith drove in his second run of the game with a triple in the 6th before Kansas City scored four times in the 8th to take a 7-5 lead. Smith added one more on an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th and Yanio Perez hit a ground-rule double into the right-field corner to score Ryan Long and tie the game.
Sweeney’s second home run came off of closer James Pugliese in the 9th – the first run he’s allowed since June 20th. Kansas City held on to win the series, while the ‘Dogs won seven of 12 against the Monarchs in the season set.
Lincoln pitched two true rookies making their professional pitching debuts on Thursday night. Ben Wereski of Rutgers started and retired the first seven batters he faced. Wereski ended up with 2.2 shutout innings, allowing two walks, one hit and one strikeout before Garett Delano retired all seven he faced with five strikeouts in his debut.
Jake Hohensee allowed three runs on four hits in two innings, and Tyler Anderson allowed four runs on four hits in the 8th.
The ‘Dogs were previously 6-0 on Thursday, and will now hit the road for a six-game road trip beginning Friday in Sioux Falls. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage will begin at 6:35 on ESPN Lincoln 101.5 FM/1480 AM.
The Saltdogs are celebrating their 20th season at Haymarket Park this season! All ticket and promotional information can be viewed at saltdogs.com.