LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Wind Surge were unable to hold on to their lead as the Travelers walked-off Game 6 with a three-run home run to win 7-5.
Despite the loss, the Wind Surge still won the series 4-2 and hold a three game lead in the division over second place Tulsa.
For the first time this series, the Travelers were the first ones on the board. Austin Shenton hit his first double-A home run off Jordan Balazovic to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Wichita was able to take the lead with a quick two-out rally in the top of the second inning. With D.J. Burt on second, Aaron Whitefield singled to the left center gap to drive in Burt and his team-leading 40th RBI. Wilbis Santiago followed up Whitefield by driving him in with a double to the right center gap to put Wichita ahead 2-1 for the moment. An RBI single by Arkansas’ Stephen Wrenn in the bottom half of the inning tied the game back up at 2.
The Surge jumped back out in front with two RBI singles in the top of the third inning. With Roy Morales standing on second, Ernie De La Trinidad singled softly to right field to plate the go-ahead run for Wichita. After De La Trinidad advanced to third on a groundout a couple batters later, D.J. Burt singled on another ground ball through the right side to add another run to the lead. After Jake Scheiner of Arkansas picked up an RBI single in the bottom of the fith, the Surge put the lead right back to two runs in the top of the sixth off a Roy Morales sacrifice fly.
The Surge were unable to hold on to their two-run lead in the ninth inning. After back-to-back singles put two on for Arkansas, Jake Scheiner hit a walk-off three-run home run to give the Travelers the series finale victory.
Jordan Balazovic lasted five innings in his 10th start of the year. Balazovic allowed three runs on five hits and struck out four. Mitchell Osnowitz threw 2.1 innings of relief as he allowed just one run on one hit and struck out three.
NOTES
D.J. Burt extended his hitting streak to four games.
COMING UP
Wichita continue their road trip in Arkansas with a six-game series against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals starting Tuesday night. First pitch of game one is set for 7:05 p.m. from Springdale, Ark. Wichita will start RHP Chris Vallimont (3-4, 4.13 ERA) for game one on Tuesday night. The Wind Surge and Naturals played a six-game series three weeks ago in Wichita. The Naturals won the series by taking four of the six games over the week. Catch the game at MiLB.TV and Windsurge.com.