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Sioux City, IA - In a pitchers duel from Mercy Field at Lewis and Clark Park the Sioux City Explorers came away with the win 2-1 over the Lincoln Saltdogs to improve to 50-16 on the season. 

Both starting pitchers were locked into a pitchers duel for most of this one. Taylor Jordan (9-2) was able to pick up the win for the X’s as he went 7 innings, allowing just a single run on 7 hits, racking up 7 strikeouts and walking just a single batter. The Sioux City Explorers are now 10-4 in games that Taylor Jordan starts. 

Not to be out done was Austin Robichaux as he went all 8 innings for the Saltdogs tonight collecting his second complete game of the year. Robichaux (2-5) would take the tough luck loss for Lincoln as he went 8 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 4 and walking just 1. 

Sioux City would get their two runs off Robichaux in the third inning. With two outs in the inning, Luis Durango got a shallow fly ball to fall into left field and Michael Lang was able to draw a walk to put runners at first and second. Jay Austin then doubled to right center field bringing both Durango and Lang home for a 2-0 Sioux City lead.

The top three of the order of Durango, Lang and Austin collected four of the six hits that Sioux City had in the ball game. A Jose Sermo double in the second and a Dexture McCall single in the seventh were the only other two hits for the X’s on the night. 

Lincoln pushed one across in the fifth inning as Dashenko Ricardo reached on an infield single to lead off the inning. He would advance to second on a ground ball and score on a two out single by Jamey Smart to cut Sioux City’s lead down to 2-1. 

In the top of the eighth Ryan Flores would relieve Taylor Jordan to start the inning, he would give up a lead off triple to Cesar Valera. Ryan Horstman then immediately relieved Flores with no outs in the eighth and the tying run at third. Horstman would then strike out the first two batters he faced in Angel Reyes and Christian Ibarra before getting Dan Johnson to fly out to the warning track in right field to end the inning, stranding Valera at third and keeping the X’s in the lead. 

Parker Markel was called on for the ninth inning and was able to lock down his third save of the season as he retired three of the four batters that he faced. Sioux City pitchers in the ball game struck out 10 Saltdogs making it the 29th time this season that Sioux City has struck out 10 or more batters in a game.

Sioux City with the wins on Friday and Saturday is now a combined 22-1 on those days of the week this season. And now 50-16 on the season have reached fifty wins faster than any other team in franchise history as the next closest the 2015 team took 68 games to reach the half century mark. 

Sioux City will go for the sweep of the Lincoln Saltdogs on Sunday night in the season finale between the two clubs as the X’s will have James Dykstra take the hill against Joe Bircher for the Saltdogs. First pitch is set for 6:05.