712.277.WINS (9467)

BOX SCORE

Fargo, ND-The Explorers fell behind early and never caught fire in an 11-2 loss to the RedHawks Saturday night at Newman Outdoor Field.

Sioux City (43-49) is now 6-7 against Fargo-Moorhead (39-52) this season, including a 2-4 mark at Fargo. With the victory, the RedHawks put a five-game losing streak to bed. Fargo plated two runs in the second to jump out early. C.J. Retherford led off the inning with a double to left. Sawyer Carroll followed with a single to left that eventually turned into runners at second and third on the play back to the infield. One out later, Brandon Tripp doubled to center and scored both Retherford and Carroll for a 2-0 lead.

The Explorers shaved the margin to one in the third. With one out, Oscar Mesa (pictured) reached on an error by the shortstop and took second. Mesa then stole third and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right from Tim Colwell.

In the fourth, Fargo-Moorhead expanded the lead to 5-1. Sawyer Carroll led off with an infield single. Two outs later, Travis Higgs doubled to left for the first run of the inning. Anthony Kaskadden followed with a single and Frank Salerno walked to load the bases. A two-run scoring single by Ronnie Bourquin brought home both Higgs and Kaskadden.

The RedHawks added a single run in the fifth and three more in the seventh. The seventh inning runs all came on a three-run home run by Travis Higgs. Fargo pushed two more across in the eighth. Sioux City scored a meaningless run in the ninth for the game’s final margin.

For Fargo-Moorhead, lefty starter Jake Laber snapped a nine-game losing streak with the victory. Laber (7-10) went seven innings and gave up one unearned run on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Laber was 0-9 in his last 11 starts with two no-decisions. Lars Liguori took the loss for Sioux City. Liguori (1-4) lasted five innings and allowed six earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

The RedHawks outhit the X’s 13-10. Oscar Mesa, Brock Kjeldgaard, and Peter Barrows all collected two hits in defeat. For Fargo, Sawyer Carroll led the hit parade as he went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. C.J. Retherford had three hits with four runs and an RBI. Travis Higgs was 2-for-3 with the homer, four RBIs, and two runs. The Explorers left 12 runners stranded.  

Sioux City closes out the weekend series in Fargo Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock. The X’s have just one home series remaining this season against Gary SouthShore August 26^th-28^th. For ticket information and promotion specials at Lewis & Clark Park, call 712-277-WINS or visit the Explorers website at www.xsbaseball.com.