Tuesday night the Laredo Lemurs looked to rebound after giving up three late runs Monday night to lose 9-6. Tonight, after falling behind 3-1, the Lemurs bullpen took over, dominating for seven innings to keep the Wichita Wingnuts off the scoreboard, and then watching their lineup rally to win the game in the 12th inning, 4-3.

The game got off on the right foot for the Lemurs as they pounced on Wingnuts starter Tim Brown for a run in the top of the first inning. The Wingnuts starter retired the first two hitters of the inning but, on a 2-2 pitch, Denker crushed a Brown offering over the left field fence for his third homerun of the season.

Wichita got the run right back in the bottom half of the inning. Zach Cox singled with one out, but was replaced by Brent Clevlen on a fielder’s choice. T.J. Mittelstaedt then drew a walk and Dustin Geiger was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Richard Prigatano was the next hitter and worked the count full before taking ball four from Moskovits. That drove in Clevlen to tie the score.

For the next three innings the game would remain tied at one. Both Brown and Moskovits were pitching outstanding. Moskovits allowed three walks during that stretch, while Brown gave up a lone single over the next three innings. In the top of the fifth, Brown set the Lemurs down in order, setting up a big inning for his offense.

In the bottom half of the inning, Christian Stringer led it off with a single and Cox grounded into a force play that put him at first. Two batters later Mittelstaedt doubled to keep the inning alive, putting runners at second and third with two outs. That brought up last night’s hero, Dustin Geiger, who promptly singled to left-center scoring both runners to give the Wichita Wingnuts the 3-1 lead.

Laredo would get one of those runs back in the top of the sixth. Alvaro Rondon singled to start the frame and Ty Morrison followed with a single that moved Rondon to third. With runners at the corners and no one out, Brown made a great pitch to induce a double-play. Rondon scored, but there were two outs. A pop out ended the inning, as the Wingnuts held on to the 3-2 advantage.

Brown would leave after seven. He had pitched an absolute gem, allowing just 4-hits and 2-earned runs, while striking out 4. More importantly, he left with the Wingnuts leading.

Fabian Roman, Monday night’s winner, took over but he could not hold the lead. A walk to Matt Koch got the inning started. A sacrifice moved him to second and Rondon followed with a single that scored him to tie the game. Rondon would steal second and move to third on a wild pitch, but Roman made a great set of pitches to retire the final two hitters without allowing another run, keeping the game tied.

From there the bullpens both pitched well. The Lemurs relievers had pitched incredibly well since the seventh inning, and Frankie Reed was dominating for the Wingnuts in the ninth and 10th innings.

In the 12th, the Laredo Lemurs would get a run against Alex Boshers. He had shut the Lemurs down in the 11th, but a single by Denis Phipps got the rally started one inning later. Two batters later Drew Martinez singled and a fielder’s choice on a ball hit into the hole between first and second scored Phipps to give Laredo the lead.

In the bottom of the 12th the Wingnuts had the chance to at least tie the score. Brent Clevlen doubled to start the inning and T.J. Mittelstaedt was intentionally walked. A ground ball moved both runners into scoring position and Richard Prigatano was intentionally walked to load the bases for Harrison Kain. He fell behind 0-2, then worked the count full before grounding into a double play that ended the game.

Kyle Winkler (2-0) earned the victory. Scott Garner earned his first save of the season. Alex Boshers took the loss for Wichita. The Lemurs bullpen pitched seven innings, allowing five hits and no runs to lead to the victory. They struck out 9.

Kain had three hits for Wichita. Geiger drove in two, and Mittelstaedt and Stringer each had two hits. Morrison and Rondon had two hits apiece for Laredo.

These two teams will continue their four-game series tomorrow. Eddie Medina (0-2, 16.20 goes for the Wichita Wingnuts against Matt Sergey (0-0, 0.75) for the Laredo Lemurs. Game time is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier