RedHawks Bats Cool as Swept by Saints, 10-3
FARGO, ND — After going over a month without losing a series, the RedHawks were handed their first sweep of the year after St. Paul picked up a 10-3 win over Fargo-Moorhead in front of 2,900 fans on Sunday night at Newman Outdoor Field.
The RedHawks got the scoring started early with Devan Ahart grounding out to drive Tim Colwell in from third base after his one out triple. The Saints scored their first runs in the third inning via a Chris Baker two run shot over the right field wall. The Saints tacked on two more unearned runs after an untimely error by Fargo-Moorhead’s T.J. Bennett, putting the Saints on top 4-1.
The very next inning, the Saints put up four more runs on a sacrifice fly and two RBI singles, extending the Saints’ lead to seven runs. The Saints added one run in the fifth inning, and the RedHawks answered in the bottom of the fifth with a run of their own. The Saints added another run in the sixth inning to push the lead back up to eight runs, but Devan Ahart scored on Correlle Prime’s RBI double in the bottom of the inning brought the ‘Hawks back to within 7.
Although the RedHawks bullpen did their best to keep the Saints in check, and the Fargo-Moorhead offense attempted to start a rally late, the Saints bullpen shut the ‘Hawks down, only allowing a single hit in their three innings of work, securing the series sweep and extending their division lead over the RedHawks to two games.
Although the RedHawks lost, there were still some bright spots in today’s game. Brent Jones tossed two innings of solid relief, allowing one hit, and striking out four batters, without issuing a walk. The Fargo-Moorhead bullpen also had a streak in the game where they eleven straight outs recorded were strikeouts.
With the loss tonight, Fargo-Moorhead (38-23) heads into the all-star break with a half game lead over the Chicago Dogs (37-23) for the second playoff spot in the north division for the American Association playoffs. The RedHawks will resume play on Wednesday, July 24 on the road against the Lincoln Saltdogs (25-35).
By Jack Michaels