LINCOLN, NE- The Wichita Wingnuts lost 7-6 in 16 innings to the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park on Friday night.
Deacon Burns leadoff the bottom of the 16th with a solo home run off of Tyler Rhoden to win the marathon which is now the longest game in Wingnuts' history in terms of both innings and time (4:47).
In the top of the second, Kelly Hunt and Joe Muich hit back-to-back one-out singles. Steve Pearson doubled down the right field line to score Hunt and give the Wingnuts a 1-0 lead. Michael Thompson followed with a two-run double to left-center field to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Wingnuts added two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Josh Horn and Nick Blasi each had two-out RBI singles, giving the Wingnuts a 5-0 lead.
Lincoln made it a one-run game when Steve Alexander hit a grand slam off of Medina in the bottom of the sixth.
Gabe Medina pitched seven strong innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, and striking out six in a no-decision.
Doug Hurn pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Wichita. In the top of the ninth, Dustan Mohr lifted a sacrifice fly to score Nick Blasi from third to make it 6-4. Blasi finished the night with five hits and two stolen bases. The five hits tie a club record.
Albenis Machado singled home two runs off of Joe D'Alessandro in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. With the winning run on third and one out, Richard Salazar struck out slugger Phil Hawke. Justin Young then came in and got Pichi Balet to ground out to third to send the game to extra innings. Yougn went on to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings, but the Wingnuts were held scoreless the rest of the way.
The Wingnuts and Saltdogs continue their series tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. Adam Cowart starts for Wichita against Lincoln's Tim Brown. All the action can be heard locally on 1410AM KGSO and worldwide at www.kgso.com The Wingnuts return from the All-Star break on Friday, July 24th when they host the Sioux Falls Canaries at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, contact the Wingnuts' office at (316) 264-4625.
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