Ryan Thurston tossed four outstanding innings of relief and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks offense pounded out 15 hits as the team downed the Chicago Dogs, 14-2. Correlle Prime extended his hitting streak to 13 games and Christian Ibarra drove home four runs to lead the offense. Drew Ward homered for the third time in the last four games.

After a scoreless first inning, the RedHawks took command of this contest with four runs in the top of the second. Ward led off the inning by drilling an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for his third homerun of the season. Leobaldo Pina followed with a single into left before Dario Pizzano walked. That brought Ibarra to the plate, who laced a ball to the wall, allowing both runners to come home while he raced for third with a triple. Dylan Kelly brough Ibarra home with a sacrifice fly and the RedHawks were quickly out on top, 4-0.

Fargo-Moorhead extended their lead with a run in the top of the third as Pizzano brought home Prime with a single, but they would blow this game open in the top of the fourth, chasing Chicago starter Eric Stout. A single by Kelly got the inning started. He moved to second on a walk to Brennan Metzger two batters later and scored on a single by Trey Hair. Prime brought Metzger home with a single and Ward was then hit by a pitch. That would be it for the Dogs starter.

Eddie Butler came on and threw a wild pitch that allowed Hair to score. Pizzano then drew a walk and Ibarra followed with a double into right field that brought home both Prime and Ward. Pizzano scored on a ground out by Kelly to give the RedHawks an 11-0 lead.

Cale Coshow started for Fargo-Moorhead, pitching just one inning before being replaced by Thurston. The right-hander was brilliant, going four-innings, allowing just one-hit and a walk, while striking out seven. He walked the first patter he faced, then struck out the side in the second. That started a string of nine straight batters retired. Tyler Ladendorf ended the run with a leadoff single in the fifth.

The RedHawks added a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Pizzano. They scored two more in the seventh when Blake Grant-Parks drilled his second homer of the season, a two-run blast to make it 14-0.

The Dogs finally got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Edwin Arroyo hit into a double-play with the bases loaded to score on run and Harrison Smith brought home the other with an RBI double.

Ibarra finished 2-5 with a run and four RBI. Prime had three hits and drove home two. Kelly, Pizzano, Pina, and Ward each had two hits apiece. Smith had the only RBI for Chicago

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier