LINCOLN — Zachary Varce silenced the Kansas City bats yet again as the Saltdogs (34-31) evened up the weekend series with a 3-1 victory over the T-Bones (32-35) in front of 5,022 fans at Haymarket Park Saturday night.
Varce (3-6) tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits to earn the win. The 25-year old right hander is now 2-0 against Kansas City, with only three hits allowed in 12 frames on the year.
Lincoln opened the scoring in the fourth inning, on a Tyler Smith groundout and Chad Mozingo two-out double to take a 2-0 lead.
Kyle DeVore (3-4) pitched five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits to absorb the loss.
Marshall Schuler worked a hitless ninth inning to save his league-leading 23rd game of the year, and fifth in six games.
Mozingo finished the night 2-for-5 with a stolen base and a RBI. Ian Gac went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice fly. Mike Gilmartin also turned in his second straight multi-hit effort, smacking a double and scoring a run.
The clubs are back at it Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. for the rubber game. LHP Kevin McGovern (2-0, 1.66) will square off against RHP Andy Noga (1-3, 4.05). Radio coverage begins at 1:35 p.m. on KFOR 1240.