LINCOLN, NE – Christian Ibarra and Brandon Jacobs each homered and the Lincoln Saltdogs beat the Wichita Wingnuts 6-4 at Haymarket Park on Wednesday night.
The win clinched the first series win of the season for Lincoln (3-3) and extended their win streak to three games. Tyler Herron earned the win and notched a quality start in a six-inning outing. Travis Banwart was charged with the loss for Wichita (2-3) after surrendering four runs on six hits over six innings. J.R. Bunda earned the save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
The Saltdogs took the lead immediately. Christian Ibarra led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to left field to make it 1-0. He has homered in back to back games and has notched a hit in every game this season.
Wichita tied it up in the top of the fourth. Abel Nieves started the frame with a hit and Tony Thomas followed with a walk. After a groundout advanced the runners, Nieves scored on a sacrifice fly by John Nester.
The tie was short-lived as the Saltdogs grabbed the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. Chase Simpson and Angel Reyes each collected singles to bring up Brandon Jacobs with two outs. The left fielder had just one hit entering the day but blasted a three-run shot to make it 4-1.
The Wingnuts trimmed the lead to one in the top of the sixth. Nieves and Thomas combined for hits and Nester came through with a two-out double to close the gap to 4-3.
The Saltdogs added insurance runs in the seventh. New infielder Omar Obregon reached on a Wichita error and scored on an Ibarra single. Simpson doubled off the left field wall to tally the next score and extend the lead to three runs.
Thomas jacked his second home run of the series in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 6-4 but the Lincoln bullpen did its job overall. Eric Wooten, Jose Jose and Bunda combined to allow one run over three innings to secure the victory.
The Saltdogs try for the series sweep over Wichita on Thursday night at Haymarket Park. First pitch is at 6:45 PM with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and saltdogs.com/stream.
For more information on the Saltdogs, follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball. For ticket information visit https://saltdogs.com/tickets/ or call (402) 474-2255.