WICHITA – Less than 10 hours after only getting 3 hits on the night, the Wind Surge came back and fired off nine runs on 15 hits in the Wednesday matinee against Tulsa.
With the win, the Wind Surge propelled back into first place by themselves in the tight north division standings.
The Surge struck first in the bottom of the second and jumped to a 4-0 lead. Trey Cabbage got things started with a double on a well hit ball to right field. Andrew Bechtold singled on a ground ball to center and advanced to second after an error by the Drillers’ centerfielder. Bechtold picked up his 24th RBI on the season driving in Cabbage. Jermaine Palacios singled on a line drive to center picking up an RBI driving Bechtold in. Wilbis Santiago double on a fly ball to left field leading Palacios to score making it 4-0.
The Drillers got on board in the top of the 3rd after Michael Busch hit an RBI double driving in Jacob Amaya.
The Surge extended their lead in the bottom third. Roy Morales started things off with a single to center. After Trey Cabbage walked, Andrew Bechtold hit a double to right field, driving in Morales and sending Cabbage to third. Jermaine Palacios then hit an RBI single driving in Cabbage for his 28th RBI of the year. The Surge finished off the inning strong with a three-run homer by Chris Williams. Williams’ home run over the left field bullpen was his first in a Wind Surge uniform and placed Wichita with a comfortable 9-1 advantage.
The Drillers scored two runs in the top of the 8th, but it was not enough as the Wind Surge pulled off a 9-3 day game win in game two of the series.
Cole Sands lasted two innings on the mound in his return to the rotation. Sands gave up two hits and struck out three in his return from injury. Kody Funderbunk lasted 5 innings in his season debut and picked up his first win for the Surge. Funderbunk gave up four hits, one run and struck out five. Jordan Gore, also making his first appearance for Wichita, finished off the last 1.2 innings with a scoreless and hitless pitching performance.
NOTES
The Propeller Series now sits at an 8-6 game advantage in favor of the Drillers. Wichita improves to 8-4 in day games this season with today’s victory. Wind Surge improved to 8-3 in Wednesday games.
COMING UP
Wichita will play game three against the Tulsa Drillers tomorrow evening (7/15). First pitch is set for 7:05 pm from Riverfront Stadium. Wichita will start RHP Jordan Balazovic (1-1, 3.56 ERA) against Tulsa’s RHP Ryan Pepiot (3-2, 1.77 ERA). Catch the game on MiLB.TV and Windsurge.com.