FARGO, North Dakota – RHP R.J. Freure struck out a season-high six batters over three scoreless relief innings, but the ‘Dogs lost 4-3 in 11 innings to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Newman Outdoor Field on Thursday afternoon.

BOX SCORE

Freure’s six strikeouts were a season high for any Saltdogs reliever but 3B Leobaldo Pina hit a walk-off single with one out in the 11th and the ‘Dogs let a 3-0 lead get away with a chance to sweep their first series at Newman Outdoor Field since June 28-30, 2002.

The ‘Dogs (41-42) opened the scoring with three runs in the 2nd. With the bases loaded and two outs, LF Zane Zurbrugg drove in two with a single before 2B Nate Samson added one with an RBI single.

The RedHawks (40-43) battled back with two runs in the 5th inning. 2B Nick Novak made it 3-1 with an RBI single and LF Scott Schreiber added one with a sacrifice fly.

The game remained 3-2 until the 8th inning. LHP Steffon Moore came on and allowed three straight batters to reached before the ‘Dogs brought in Freure. After a strikeout, Freure issued a bases-loaded walk to Dexter that tied the game. Freure then navigated the rest of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

Neither team scored in the 10th inning and the ‘Dogs went scoreless in the 11th. RHP Reza Aleaziz retired all nine batters he faced and picked off PR Will Kengor at second base to end the inning. Aleaziz earned the win.

RHP Walter Borkovich came out for the 11th. With the bases loaded and one out, Pina singled up the middle to win the game.

LHP Abdallah Aris went 5 and 1/3 innings, allowing two runs – one earned – with one walk and four strikeouts.

Lincoln now returns home to begin a seven-game home stand starting with a doubleheader against the Winnipeg Goldeyes at 5:05 on Friday night. Both games can be seen in full on aabaseball.tv, while radio coverage begins at 6:00 with a join-in-progress broadcast on KFOR FM 101.5/1240 AM.

The Saltdogs are back in 2023! Single-game tickets for all games are on sale now. Reserve your seats now by calling 402-474-BALL (2255) or order on-line at Saltdogs.com.