Fifth Inning Rally Leads to Fifth Straight Win

WICHITA, KS- The Wichita Wingnuts defeated the Grand Prairie AirHogs 8-5 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Sunday evening.

Luke Massetti did not allow an earned run in 6.1 innings to earn the win, while seven Wingnuts' starters had at least one hit.

Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Wingnuts scored three times with two outs to take a permanent lead.  Rene Ruiz opened the inning with a single up the middle and was sacrificed to second by Josh Horn.  After AirHogs' starter Luke Prihoda retired Ryan Patterson on a flyball to center, Jorge Cortes lined a single to center field to put Wichita in front 3-2.  Jackson Melian followed with a long triple to right-center that scored Cortes.  Melian came home on an error by shortstop Joseph Spiers.

Wichita added two in the sixth on RBI singles from Horn and Cortes to take a 7-2 lead.

Grand Prairie threatened in the seventh.  Michael Hollimon led off with a single and scored on a throwing error from Ruiz on a groundball hit by Robert Perry.  Massetti got Chris Brown on a groundout to third but allowed an RBI single to Ben Petralli to cut the lead to 7-4.  Massetti walked Joseph Spiers to bring the tying run to the plate and was relieved by Brandon Mathes.  Mathes fell behind Nook Logan 2-0 before getting him to hit into an inning-ending double play to put out the fire.

The Wingnuts added an eighth run in the bottom of the seventh on a wild pitch from reliever Santo Maertz.  Grand Prairie plated their fifth and final run of the night in the top of the eighth on an RBI single from Porter.

Justin Dowdy threw a perfect ninth inning to notch his 13th save of the year.

The Wingnuts scored two in the bottom of the second to take an early lead.  Steve Pearson led off with a single and advanced to second on a hit-and-run groundout to shortstop from Michael Sharp.  Pearson stole third and then came home when catcher Ben Petralli's throw to third went down the left field line.  With the bases empty, Michael Bell singled up the middle.  Ruiz's groundball to second moved Bell into scoring position.  Bell scored when Horn singled through the left side to make it 2-0.

The AirHogs tied the game in the top of the fourth.  Massetti had retired the first 11 batters to face him until a two-out walk to David Espinosa.  Greg Porter singled to center to put runners on first and third.  Michael Hollimon lifted a flyball to left that Melian dropped, allowing the tying runs to score.

Massetti struck out six and walked two while allowing just four hits in the win.  Prihoda took the loss, allowing seven runs, four earned, in 6.0 IP.  Dustin Pease worked a scoreless inning in the eighth.  Cortes extended his hitting streak to eight games in a row and has driven in a run in five straight.

-Wingnuts-