Gilbert Saunder started things off for the Huskies after finding himself in a sticky situation in the first inning with bases loaded and nobody out. Saunders was able to trade a double play for a run as Luca Dipaolo came around to score for the Honkers.
Cardell Thibodeaux led off the bottom of the first and reached via error. Tyler Palmer was hit by the pitch from Nathen Nino to put runners on first and second with no outs. Two batters later and a double steal by the Huskies was good enough for Charlie Sutherland to drive home Thibodeaux.
Saunder faced only 4 batters in the top of the second, including a dazzling pick-off move that caught Andrew Cain leaning.
On the other hand for Nino, the Huskies broke open in a big way in the bottom portion of the inning. Jake Downing led off the inning with a walk. The next at-bat Jayden Duplantier hit a rope into right-center and it rolled to the wall to give the Huskies their first lead. Nolan Barry in his first at-bat as a Huskies hit a sharp single into right, then Thibodeaux the next at-bat hit a 2-run double to make it a 4-1 game. Joshua Duarte bunted his way onto first and Thibodeaux scored aided by a poor throw by the Honkers, Duarte would advance to second as well. Charlie Sutherland would slap another single in the gap putting runners on the corners for the Huskies. Joe Vos in the next at-bat drove in a Duarte to bring it to a 6-1 lead after 2 innings of play.
After solid pitching by both Saunders and Bryce Liechty who came in to relieve Nino, the score remained 6-1 until the top of the 4th. Jared Lewis with 2 runners on hit a double that would drive in Cain. Dipoalo hit a single into left to score Carpentier but that’s where the run production came to an end as Duarte connected with Barry to throw out Lewis at home.
Liechty put up another zero in the 4th for the Honkers, and their offense kept coming in the top of the 5th, Dom Rodriguez hit a single to start the inning. After a single By Reiss Calvin, Rodriguez was able to advance to third. Matthew Foley bounced a pitch into the turf and Rodriguez was able to score to cut the Huskies lead to just 2. However, Foley would get out of the jam just allowing the one run.
Sam Kratz came in to pitch for the Huskies in the 6th. Carpentier singled and Lewis walked to put runners on first and second with 1 out. Then a few moments later Luca Dipoalo uncorked a go-ahead 3-run home run to give the Honkers the lead 7-6. Kratz would lock in and shut down the Honkers for the remainder of the inning.
However, the Huskies would match the 3 runs the Honkers put up with 3 of their own. Ethan Cole got things going with a single and then Cole stole second base to put him into scoring position. Duplantier 2 batters later would hit a flare into right that was good enough to score Cole. On a wild pitch by Joe Gizzi who came in to relieve Liechty, Duplantier would score for the Huskies to regain the lead. After a pair of walks to Thibodeaux and Tyler Palmer, Duarte would also walk to give the Huskies a 9-7 lead.
Marland Jorgensen came into pitch the 8th inning for the Huskies and on the first pitch Petey Craska unloaded a 1 run home run to cut the Huskies lead to just one. However, Jorgensen regained his composure to finish the inning strong.
After a 3 up and 3 down in the bottom of the 8th for the Huskies Albert Roblez came in for the save situation. Roblez fired 19 pitches only surrendering one hit to close out the game to give the Huskies the 9-8 win. A huge momentum win for the Huskies as they find themselves 1.5 games back of the first-place Rochester Honkers.
The Honkers and Huskies will closeout the series tomorrow at Wade Stadium, first pitch will be at 6:35 (CT) as the Huskies look to get their third straight victory at home.
