Wingnuts Pound Dogs in Series Opener

WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Wingnuts defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs 14-1 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Friday night.

Steve Pearson and Jeff Christy each had four hits, while Ryan Patterson drove in four runs.  Nick Singleton worked seven strong innings to pick up the win.

The Wingnuts used singles in the first from Eric Williams, Josh Horn, and Mario Delgado to set up a two-out, bases loaded walk to Chris Colton to give them the first run of the game.  Horn's single extended his hitting streak to 19 in a row dating back to last year, tying the Wingnuts' club record.

In the bottom of the second, Jeff Christy singled to center and advanced to second when Patrick Brooks was hit by a pitch.  Two batters later, Ryan Patterson doubled to left-center to drive in both and extend the lead to 3-0.

With two outs and no one on in the third, Steve Pearson tripled down the right field line and scored on an RBI single through the left side by Christy.  Brooks doubled to the left-center field wall to plate Christy from first, making it 5-0.

After Lincoln scored their lone run in the top of the fourth, the Wingnuts broke the game open with six runs in the bottom half.  Josh Horn drew a one-out walk, stole second and then scored Mario Delgado's single to right-center.  Lefty Donald Furrow relieved starting pitcher Billy Weitzman and issued back-to-back walks to Michael Thompson and Chris Colton to load the bases.  Pearson lined a single to left to drive in two runs and open a 8-1 lead.  With first and third and one out, Jeff Christy beat out a safety squeeze bunt that increased the lead to 9-1.  The Wingnuts re-loaded the bases when Ryan Patterson, the 10th man up in the inning, blooped a single into short center to score two more runs.

Pearson tripled home Chris Colton in the bottom of the fifth to make it 12-1.  Tempers flared in the top of the sixth when Singleton threw behind Argelis Nunez.  The benches and bullpens cleared, but no punches were thrown.

Pearson and Christy each picked up their fourth hits of the night in the bottom of the seventh to help the Wingnuts to a 14-1 advantage.

Nick Singleton allowed one run on six hits in seven innings.  Singleton struck out six and walked two to improve to 3-2.  Weitzman took the loss, dropping to 2-3.  Matt Petty and Dustin Pease pitched scoreless baseball over the final two innings to finish the win.

The Wingnuts and Saltdogs continue their series Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.  Adam Cowart opposes right-hander Angel Castro.  For tickets, call the Wingnuts' office at (316) 264-NUTS.

-Wingnuts-