Dans rally in ninth; edge Outlaws, 6-5

By TY

Box Score | Standings | Season Stats

DANVILLE, Ill. – Trailing by one and down to its last out in the bottom of the ninth, four consecutive Danville batters reached base, including two via extra-base hits as the Dans rallied to knock-off Nashville, 6-5 at Danville Stadium Wednesday.

With the game tied at four, the Outlaws scored one run on three hits in the top of the ninth to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final half inning.

Nashville’s PJ Francescon (Trevecca Nazarene) retired the first two Danville hitters via strikeout in the bottom of the ninth before Jesse Tierney doubled. Following the Tierney double, Alex Edward drove in Tierney with an RBI-triple and tying the game at five. In the next at-bat, Jake Huxtable’s two-out RBI single off Francescon allowed Edward to score from third base for the game’s winning run.

The Outlaws out-hit Danville 13-9 but committed three errors in the field, including one that led to an unearned run. Offensively, Doug Joyce (Florida International) led Nashville with three hits and four RBI in five trips, including a first-inning three run homer. The home run for Joyce was his team-leading fifth of the season.

Greg Bachman (Austin Peay), Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport), Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) and Ryan Emery (Arkanas State) all had two hits on Wednesday.

Austin Bridgewater (Carson Newman) made the start for the Outlaws on Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits in a five inning no-decision. Bridgewater (3-1, 3.94 ERA) struck out five and walked three while throwing 96 pitches.

Francescon (0-2) allowed three runs, two earned scattering four hits in 3.2 innings of relief.

With the loss, the Outlaws fall to 23-21 overall and 9-7 in the second half of the season. Despite the loss, Nashville remained just 2.5 games behind first-place Terre Haute Rex of the Central Division with 10 regular season games left to play.

The Outlaws will have a chance to get within 1.5 games of the Rex tomorrow night when they face-off against the division leader in Terre Haute. Thursday’s game against the Rex will start at 6:05 p.m.