RAILROADERS WALK AWAY WITH 7-6 WIN
CLEBURNE, TX – For the second time this season, the Railroaders won a game on a walk-off walk, this time against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Wednesday, June 28 from La Moderna Field.
Once again, the RedHawks started the scoring off early. In the top of the first, Evan Alexander led off the game by getting plunked in the back by a Kody Bullard fastball. He subsequently stole second and third on back-to-back pitches. This enabled Alec Olund, who had a good game with both the bat and glove, to drive him home on a sacrifice fly.
In the top of the second, Jack Hanson scorched a line drive into left field that resulted in a double. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, giving BJ Lopez the opportunity to hit an RBI groundout to shortstop to make it 2-0, Fargo-Moorhead.
Cleburne responded with a pair in the bottom of the third to knot the game up at two. With two outs, Guillermo Quintana walked to bring Zach Nehrir to the plate. He blasted the first pitch he saw from Tyler Grauer over the left-field fence to tie the game up.
Another run wouldn’t come across to score until the top of the seventh. The Railroaders turned to the bullpen and the usual steady arm of Austin Fairchild. Fairchild struggled, allowing four runs in the frame. After six and a half, the RedHawks led 6-2.
It might’ve seemed like the ‘Roaders were down for the count, but they still had some life in them. After a one-out walk to Jose Sermo in the bottom of the eighth, Hill Alexander hit a homer that hit halfway up the batter’s eye in straightaway center field to cut the RedHawks' lead in half. Mark Karaviotis, Brian Klein and Elmer Reyes all walked subsequently, loading the bases for newcomer London Green. Green took full advantage of his opportunity, sneaking a line drive past the glove RedHawks’ first basemen Correlle Prime and into the right field corner. Two runs scored and the game was tied at six.
After a clean top of the ninth thanks to Nick Gardewine, the Railroaders had the chance to walk it off in the bottom half. Nehrir led the inning off with his third hit of the night, this one a double. The RedHawks elected to intentionally walk Sermo, putting runners on first and second. Then RedHawks’ reliever Conner Richardson hit Alexander to load the bases. With nowhere to put Karaviotis, Richardson just couldn’t find the zone, walking him on five pitches, bringing Nehrir home to score, and giving the Railroaders the 7-6 win.
Gardewine picked up the win out of relief while Richardson got the loss.
Both starters had excellent outings. Bullard went six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits. Grauer also went six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits.
The Railroaders continue their six-game series with the RedHawks tomorrow at 7:06 p.m. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. on aabaseball.tv and on the Railroader Broadcast Network on Mixlr.