Goldeyes bite late in contest to net victory

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This article was published 05/06/2019 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes saved their best for last in Wednesday night’s 3-2 win over the Sioux City Explorers at Shaw Park.

The Fish were dreadful on offence for the majority of the night, with zero extra-base hits through eight innings. But despite their offensive struggles, the Goldeyes were still in the game as they headed into the bottom of the ninth, trailing 2-0.

“Their starter (Eric Karch) had good stuff tonight. Simple as that,” Goldeyes third baseman Dominic Ficociello said. “I mean, he kept us off balance the entire game. And there weren’t very many comfortable at-bats from what I could tell. So, I mean, up until the ninth inning, when they brought in a new pitcher, it was kind of like a breath of fresh air.”

The inning started with back-to-back outs, but Goldeyes outfielder Josh Romanski started the rally with a single. Outfielder Willy Garcia kept it going with the team’s lone extra-base hit of the game, as he drilled a line drive to left field for a double that advanced Romanski to third base. From there, first baseman Kyle Martin, who the Goldeyes signed earlier in the day, and veteran outfielder Reggie Abercrombie, were walked by Sioux City closer Matt Pobereyko to make it a 2-1 game.

With Pobereyko already on the ropes, it was Ficociello who delivered the knockout punch. Ficociello hit a liner to the gap in centre field to plate two runs for the walk-off 3-2 victory.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t expect really to get to the plate,” Ficociello said. “I thought Reggie would probably get the job done right before me. But yeah, I mean, it was a heck of a ninth inning. Two outs, nobody on, to scoring three runs and walking off the game is pretty fun. So, I mean, just shows kind of the resiliency of the team right now.”

It was the second time the Goldeyes broke Sioux City’s heart this week, as they also walked off the Explorers on Monday night with a 7-6 win in 10 innings. The Fish also won the second game of the four-game series on Tuesday by a 5-4 score.

The late-game heroics were made possible by Goldeyes starter Parker French, who kept the game close all night. The 26-year-old pitcher from Austin, Texas, lasted seven and two-third innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out three. Tyler Garkow pitched the ninth inning for the Fish and got his first win this American Association season.

The Goldeyes, who have yet to lose a series at home this season, are now 13-6. Sioux City fell to 6-13 with the loss. The four-game series wraps up tonight at Shaw Park with first pitch set for 7 p.m.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31