GENEVA, Illinois – RF Connor Panas went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and the ‘Dogs beat the Kane County Cougars 4-3 in 11 innings at Northwestern Medicine Field on Friday night.
Panas hit his 21st homer and added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in extra innings, and while Lincoln (46-51) opened the four-game series with a win, Fargo-Moorhead’s win over Winnipeg eliminated the Saltdogs from playoff contention.
The Cougars (48-49) opened the scoring on an RBI triple from RF Jonah Davis in the 5th inning, but Panas tied the game with a two-out homer in the 6th.
The game remained tied until the 10th inning when Lincoln took a 2-1 lead on an RBI single from 2B Nate Samson to score PR Will Kengor.
In the bottom of the 10th, Kane County tied the game with an RBI single from 3B Olivier Basabe.
The ‘Dogs regained the lead in the 11th. Panas made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly that scored Nate Samson after the throw from center hit grass in front of the mound and bounced over Cougars C Hector Sanchez. Later in the frame, LF Zane Zurbrugg extended his hitting streak to 10 with an RBI single that made it 4-2.
RHP Wyatt Sparks earned the save in the 11th inning. He allowed the extra-innings runner to score on an RBI single from 1B Ernny Ordonez, but with the tying run at second and winning run at first, back-to-back pop outs ended the game.
RHP R.J. Freure earned his fifth win, allowing just one unearned run over 2 and 1/3 innings. RHP Walter Borkovich tossed 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings, while starting pitcher RHP Josh Roeder allowed just one run over five innings.
The series continues Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:00 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.