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The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks rallied with five runs in the eighth inning to top the Sioux Falls Pheasants 9-5 on Friday night at Sioux Falls Stadium.
 

The Pheasants’ largest crowd of the year, 2, 523, watched the RedHawks scored six unanswered runs in the final three innings, including five in the eighth to put away Sioux Falls.

With the Pheasants leading 5-4 in the eighth, the RedHawks’ first six batters reached base to start the inning. C.J. Retherford tied the game with a run-scoring single, and Kole Zimmerman drove in the go-ahead run with a base hit off reliever Sam Walls. Fargo-Moorhead took advantage of two costly throwing errors in the inning.

“We put ourselves in a position to win that game,” said manager Steve Shirley. “But they  put up a big inning and we lose. What makes this such a disappointing game is that we didn’t make plays.” 

Zach Penprase added a RBI single to push the RedHawks lead to two runs. Kyle Nichols capped the frame with a two-run single before being thrown out at second to stop the bleeding.

Walls (0-2) took the loss, giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits without recording an out.

Reliever Joe Harris (2-3) earned the victory, not allowing a hit while striking out three in 2 1/3 innings.  

Reggie Abercrombie continued his resurgence in the month of July, going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run to lead the Sioux Falls offense. Will Richards hit his first professional home run, a solo blast in the sixth inning.

Pheasants starter Kyle Ruwe overcame a three-run first to give the Pheasants another strong outing on the mound, allowing four runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of work.

Mimicking his most recent start, Ruwe struggled out of the gate before settling into a rhythm. Following consecutive one-out walks in the first, Nichols smacked a double to drive the RedHawks first run while putting runners at second and third. Jesse Hoorelbeke followed with a two-run double for an early 3-0 lead. Abercrombie saved a run, throwing out Hoorelbeke at the plate to end the inning.

The Pheasants battled back in the bottom half. Mark Shorey’s RBI groundout out the Pheasants on the board. Two batters later, Gus Milner lifted a base-hit into shallow right field that brought home Abercrombie, cutthing the RedHawks’ lead to one run.

Abercrombie’s 13th home run of the season gave the Pheasants a 4-3 lead in the third.

“The last two, three weeks, we’ve been playing some pretty good baseball,” Shirley said. “But recently, the last three, four days, we haven’t.”

The loss snapped the Pheasants’ five-game winning streak at the Birdcage. Their record dropped to 33-39 on the season.

The Pheasants look to earn a series win in the final game between the two teams at the Birdcage this season, starting at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday, July 29.