Charlie Gillies made his second start since joining the Wichita Wingnuts last Monday, and looked every bit as dominating as in his first start. The right-hander allowed one run in 7-innings of work to earn the win and Hunter Clanin drove in three runs in the Wingnuts 7-2 victory over the Texas AirHogs.

The Wichita Wingnuts jumped out in front in the top of the first-inning. Logan Watkins started the game with a single but was replaced on the base paths when Zach Nehrir grounded into a fielder’s choice. Nehrir stole second base and scored on a base hit off the bat of Abel Nieves to put Wichita on top, 1-0.

The Wingnuts would extend their lead with solo runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, Leo Vargas started the inning with a double, but Tyler Matzek was able to retire the next two batters. However, the third proved to be elusive as Nieves drove in his second run of the game with a single up the middle to extend the lead two.

In the fourth, Tony Thomas and John Nester drew back to back walks to start the inning. Two batters later, Hunter Clanin grounded a single into left that brought Thomas around to score, making it 3-0.

It would stay that way until the sixth, when Clanin drove in two more runs. Thomas reached on an error to start the inning and moved to third when Ryne Willard doubled. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Clanin singled into the alley, bringing both runners home to extend the lead to five.

The last two runs for Wichita came in the top of the seventh. Back to back walks to Nehrir and Nieves started the inning. Two batters later, Thomas would draw a walk. Carlos Contreras came on looking to stop the rally, but gave up an RBI single to Nester before allowing a sacrifice fly to Willard to extend the lead to seven.

That was plenty of support for Charlie Gillies (2-0) on this night. The right-hander scattered six hits through the first six innings of the ballgame, as no runner reached past second base through the first six frames.

The biggest opportunity for Texas came in the fourth when back to back singles by Stewart Ijames and Chen Chen with two outs gave the AirHogs a chance to get into the game. However, on Chen’s hit, Ijames was thrown out trying to reach third for the final out of the inning. In the fifth, Texas had back to back singles to start the inning, but Chen Junpeng was picked off second base before Yang Jin hit into a double play to end the frame.

Finally, in the seventh, the AirHogs would get a run across the plate. Correlle Prime and Ijames started the inning with back to back singles. A fielder’s choice put runners at the corners before a wild pitch brought Prime home to make it 7-1.

Gillies (2-0) came out after 7-innings. He allowed 8-hits, a walk, and a run, while striking out 7. In his to start the season, Gillies has allowed just one run in 13-innings pitched.

Mark Haynes came on in the eighth, making his first appearance of the season following a rather serious motorcycle accident to begin the year. He pitched two-thirds of an inning allowing a run before Jackson Sigman would end the threat. That made the score 7-2, but Texas would get no closer.

Hunter Clanin finished 2-5 with 3-RBI, the first 2-hit game of his career. Abel Nieves was 2-3 with a run, 2-walks, and 2-RBI.

These two teams conclude their series tomorrow with Wichita looking for the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier