Michael Lang Leads Sioux City Explorers to 10th Inning Victory
It has been a tough stretch for the Sioux City Explorers. After dropping three in a row and eight of their previous 11, the Explorers were looking for a spark Friday night in Wichita, and Michael Lang provided it, helping his team to win in 10, snapping the losing streak.
The Explorers grabbed the lead in the first inning of the game. Matty Johnson led the contest off with a triple and scored when Lang grounded to first. Just three pitches into the contest it was already 1-0 Sioux City.
It would stay that way until the bottom of the fourth when Wichita would tie it up. Explorers starter Graham Johnson had pitched brilliantly through the first three innings, and was doing so in the fourth as well but, with two outs, T.J. Mittelstaedt turned on a 1-0 pitch and drilled it for his sixth homer of the year.
In the fifth, the Wingnuts grabbed their first lead of the game. Back-to-back walks to Dustin Gieger and Richard Prigatano got the inning started. Two batters later Leo Vargas singled into center field to score Geiger and give his team a one-run lead. Christian Stringer then reached on an error that scored Prigatano, and a ground out by Zack Cox brought home Vargas to give the Wichita Wingnuts the 4-1 advantage.
Trailing for the first time in the contest, the Sioux City Explorers responded right away in the top of the sixth. Johnson started the frame with a single and scored when Lang hit his third homerun of the year. That made it a one-run game. Noah Perio followed with a ground-rule double and he scored when Tommy Mendonca drilled a ball to the wall in right field that he legged out for a triple.
With the score tied and the go-ahead run at third that would be it for Wingnuts starter Charlie Leesman. Eddie Medina relieved and finished out the inning, but not before giving up a sacrifice fly that scored Mendonca and gave the Explorers back the lead.
In the top of the seventh, Sioux City extended their lead to two, and it was Lang that carried the big stick in the inning again. He took a first pitch strike from Medina, then hit his second homerun of the game. That made the score 6-4.
Trailing by two, the Wichita Wingnuts were able to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth. Stringer and Cox started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Brent Clevlen drew a four pitch walk to load the bases with no one out. This inning had the makings of a huge Wingnuts rally but Rob Wort came up huge, only yielding a sacrifice fly that scored Stringer and kept his team ahead by one.
In the ninth, Connor Overton took over looking to close out the game. He retired the first two hitters of the inning and it looked like it was all but over, but Vargas singled and Stringer followed with a double. An error by the center fielder allowed Vargas to score and the game was tied.
The Wingnuts had all the momentum going for them, but Lang would bat in the 10th and he would deliver for his team again. Frankie Reed came in to relieve and Lang greeted the lefty with a double to left field. A ground ball moved him to third and an error by the catcher led to Lang scoring to give the Explorers the lead once again.
Overton returned for the bottom half of the inning and retired the Wingnuts in order. That gave the Sioux City Explorers the 7-6 victory.
Lang finished the day 3-4 with 3-runs scored and 4-RBI. Johnson and Mendonca each went 2-5 with Johnson scoring twice, and Mendonca scoring once and driving in another.
For Wichita, Stringer and Vargas each had two hits. Vargas scored 2-runs and drove in a third. Stringer had a run and an RBI.
These two teams will play the rubber match of their series Saturday night. Jon Link (5-2, 3.02) goes for the Wichita Wingnuts looking for his sixth straight victory. James Walsh (0-0, 9.00) goes for the Sioux City Explorers. Game time is 7:05.
By Robert Pannier