Wichita, KS- The Sioux City Explorers come up short in Wichita, falling to the Wingnuts 5-4 at Laurence-Dumont Stadium.
Sioux City recorded the first run of the contest. Michael Lang worked up a base-on-balls, stole second base and scored, on a Jarek Cunningham base hit to right field, to take the quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom half, the Wingnuts answered with a couple runs of their own. With runners at first and second, Dustin Geiger ripped a double, scoring both runners to take the 2-1 lead after an inning of play.
Wichita extended the lead further in the third inning. Back-to-back home runs by Brett Clevlen (two run HR) and T.J. Mittelstaedt (solo-HR) racked up three more runs for the Wingnuts, giving them a 5-1 lead.
Explorers cut the deficit to three runs in the sixth. Noah Perio led-off with a single to right, advanced to third on a Nate Samson base hit, moved to third on a Tommy Mendonca walk and scored off a Tim Colwell groundout to third base.
In the top of the eighth, Sioux City added another two runs. X’s third baseman Tommy Mendonca hit an RBI ground-rule-double for the first run. Tim Colwell tripled to left later in the inning, scoring Mendonca and cutting the deficit to a lone run.
For 2016 ticket information to Mercy Field at Lewis and Clark Park, call (712) 277-WINS or visit the X’s website at www.xsbaseball.com
