It’s not very often that a team comes into Wichita and takes two of three from the Wichita Wingnuts, but that is exactly what the Laredo Lemurs did. A year after struggling down the stretch the Lemurs got outstanding pitching in two of the three games, including Greg Holle’s five-hit complete game victory Wednesday night. The right-hander delivered an exceptional outing to help his club move a game above .500 and narrow the gap with the Wichita Wingnuts to just 2.5 games.

Wingnuts starter Jason Van Skike kept the Laredo Lemurs off the scoreboard for the first four innings. Van Skike allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the game, but then got a double-play to wipe out two runners before retiring the side. He allowed a single in each of the next three innings, but left unscathed.

The Wingnuts got a single run in the third. Dustin Geiger led off with a double, and scored when Alberto Gonzalez hit a two-out double. That was Gonzalez’s third double in two nights.

While Holle had given up the third inning run, he was untouchable in most other innings. The right-hander had allowed a single in each of the first two innings, but after allowing the run in the third he caught fire. From the fourth through the eighth innings the Laredo starter retired all 15 batters he faced. His run finally came to an end when Jayce Ray singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning.

While Holle was keeping the Wichita Wingnuts batters at bay, the Laredo Lemurs hitters staked their starter to a five-run lead. Down 1-0, the visitors had back-to-back three-run innings. In the fifth Kevin Taylor led off with a single, Luke Bailey popped out, and Taylor stole second to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Byron Wiley then roped a double to the wall to score Taylor and tie the game. A single by Jimmy Mojica moved Wiley to third, and Abel Nieves followed with a ground-rule double to score Wiley. A sacrifice fly by Juan Silverio plated Mojica, and the Lemurs had a two-run lead.

In the top of the sixth they extended that lead to five. Dvontrey Richardson began the frame with a single, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Taylor singled, to drive home Richardson, and Bailey drilled a 2-1 offering from Bailey for a two-run homerun to make it 6-1.

That was plenty enough run support for Holle (1-3) on this night. Despite have a sub-2.50 ERA, Holle had been winless in his four starts this season. So the win was a welcome site for the Laredo starter.

Van Skike (2-1) dropped his first start of the season.

Three Lemurs hitters had three hits in the game. Mojica was 3-5 with a run scored, and Wiley was 3-4 with a run and an RBI. Richardson was a perfect 3-3 with a run and a walk.

The Wingnuts only mustered 5 hits off of Holle. Gonzalez had two of those hits, making him 6-8 with 4 RBI over the last two nights.

Boxscore Provided by the American Association

By Robert Pannier