The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks were on their way to 3-1 victory when the Wichita Wingnuts began to peck away at the lead, scoring solo runs in each of the final three innings to walk away with the 4-3 win. Martin Medina’s RBI single concluded the walk-off victory and gave the Wingnuts their ninth win in their last 10 games.

The Wichita Wingnuts grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second. T. J. Mittelstaedt drilled the second pitch he saw to the wall for a triple, his first of the season. A wild pitch then brought him home and Wichita led 1-0.

In the top of the fourth the RedHawks took the lead. An error allowed Ryan Pineda to reach to start the inning and he moved to second on a ground out. Josh Mazzola followed with a double to tie the score. A single moved Mazzola to third and Brian Humphries brought him home with a sacrifice fly to give Fargo-Moorhead their first lead of the game.

The score would remain that way until the top of the seventh when the RedHawks extended their lead. Humphries started the inning with a single and reached second on a wild pitch. A single by Kes Carter moved Humphries to third and he scored when Bryan Johns singled up the middle to make it 3-1.

Trailing by two, the Wingnuts began to chip away at the lead. In the bottom of the seventh Harrison Kain singled to start the inning and moved to third on consecutive ground outs. Brent Clevlen drove him home on a double and it was 3-2.

In the eighth, Wichita tied the score. Medina walked to begin the inning and Dustin Geiger was hit by a pitch to put two on with no one out. Kain came up two batters later and singled to score Medina and the game was tied.

That led to the dramatic ninth inning. Frankie Reed came on in the top of the ninth and gave up a lone single, but the runner was erased on a double-play.

In the bottom half of the inning, Wingnuts second baseman Christian Stringer got the rally going with a single, but was cut down on a fielder’s choice, putting Zack Cox at first. A singly by Clevlen and a walk to Mittelstaedt loaded the bases and there was just one out. That brought Medina to the plate. He took two pitches for balls, then grounded a ball down to first. The first baseman batted the ball down but by the time he retrieved it he had no real play and everyone was safe. That scored Cox to make a 4-3 winner for the Wichita Wingnuts.

Reed earned the win (3-1). Clevlen finished 3-5 with an RBI. Mittelstaedt was 2-3 with a run. Leo Vargas saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end.

Game 2 of this series is tomorrow. Tim Brown (2-1, 6.27) goes for the Wichita Wingnuts. He will be opposed by Tyler Herron (3-1, 0.90). First pitch is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier