LINCOLN, Nebraska – Jake Hohensee tossed three perfect innings in relief, but the ‘Dogs allowed two unearned runs in in the 9th in a 5-3 loss to the Cleburne Railroaders at Haymarket Park on Thursday night.
Hohensee went nine-up, nine-down in relief of Kyle Kinman, who was removed from his 18th start just three innings in. Kinman allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and one strikeouts.
Lincoln (47-43) took a 1-0 lead on a bases-loaded walk from Curt Smith in the 1st inning, but that’s all the ‘Dogs got with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Cleburne (49-40) tied the game on a two-out, RBI double from Skyler Ewing in the 2nd before DJ Peterson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Railroaders a 2-1 lead in the 3rd.
Yanio Perez delivered the first of two RBI singles to tie the game in the bottom of the 3rd, but Forrestt Allday was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Cleburne took a 3-2 lead on Peterson’s go-ahead RBI double in the 8th, before Perez tied the game with a two-out single to score Josh Altmann in the bottom-half.
The Railroaders scored two unearned runs in the 9th, after an error from David Vidal resulted in the bases loaded with one out. Alay Lago hit a sacrifice fly to score Hunter Clanin, and Ozzy Martinez later added an RBI double.
James Pugliese took only his third loss of the year, while Carter Hope tossed a scoreless 7th inning. Carson Lance allowed the go-ahead run in the 8th before Perez tied the game.
The ‘Dogs have now lost four straight games for only the second time this season, and are now 2.5 games behind Cleburne for the second spot in the South Division.
The series continues on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. 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.