fmredhawks.com

Sioux City, IA-The Explorers six-game home losing streak came to a close Sunday night with a 9-6 victory over Fargo-Moorhead at Lewis & Clark Park.

Sioux City (24-32) lost two of three from the RedHawks in the weekend series, but scored a first-inning season-high four runs to set the tone. Oscar Mesa led off with a walk. Michael Lang reached on a fielder’s choice bunt attempt with no out recorded. Rene Tosoni followed with a two-run scoring triple into the right-field corner. Tosoni then scored for a 3-0 lead on an RBI single to left by Andres Perez. The hit parade continued with a run-scoring double in the gap to left-center from Peter Barrows.

The Explorers added three more runs in the second frame. Another lead-off walk put Chris Escobar on base. A single to right by Oscar Mesa moved Escobar to second. Both runners moved up as Michael Lang bunted for a base hit. With Rene Tosoni at the plate, a wild pitch scored Escobar for a 5-0 lead and placed runners at second and third. Following a strikeout, Andres Perez singled off the pitcher’s glove on the infield toward second. The ricochet allowed both Mesa and Lang to race home for a 7-0 cushion.

Sioux City plated single runs in the third and eighth innings for a 9-1 lead. Sandwiched in between, Ronnie Bourquin smashed a solo home run to deep left in the sixth for the first Fargo-Moorhead (27-29) run of the night. The RedHawks did not go quietly in the top of the ninth. They scored five times in the inning, with three coming on a home run over the right-center field wall by Brandon Tripp. With two men on, Chris Bodishbaugh struck out Bourquin to end the game.

Another strong start this week by Patrick Johnson gave the Explorers a shot in the arm on the mound. Johnson (5-2) worked eight innings and gave up just one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. He struck out eleven at Winnipeg Tuesday in a no-decision. Drew Bowlin suffered the loss for the RedHawks. Bowlin (2-4) lasted five innings and yielded eight earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Oscar Mesa, Michael Lang, and Andres Perez all had two-hit games for the X’s. Perez and Rene Tosoni drove in three runs each. For Fargo-Moorhead, Ronnie Bourquin and Brandon Tripp both collected two hits. Bourquin scored twice and Tripp posted three RBIs.