O’Conner Tallies 3 Hits in 8-5 Victory Over Great Falls Sunday

Great Falls, MT.- The Missoula PaddleHeads found themselves in another tightly contested game late opposite the Great Falls Voyagers on Sunday. The score was deadlocked at 5 after the Voyagers tied the game with a rally in the seventh. The PaddleHeads attack would come alive however in the next frame when it mattered the most.

With two outs recorded, A.J. Wright would give the PaddleHeads the lead back on a single to right to highlight a 3 hit game. One batter later, Nick Gatewood would drive in a pair more on a double to left center giving Missoula an 8-5 advantage they would never relinquish. Jayson Newman would then do the rest in a scoreless ninth on the mound to preserve the win. Wright finished 3-for-4 and Gatewood was 1-for-4.

Missoula would jump on the board first in the early going for the second consecutive night thanks to the long ball as Dean Nevarez would hit an opposite field blast to right to make the score 1-0. Nevarez would later knock in another run on a sacrifice fly in the third to make the score 3-0. Nevarez finished 1-for-4.

McClain O’Conner made an immediate impact in his first game off the inactive list Sunday homering in the third inning to add to the PaddleHeads advantage. The former Gaucho would finish the game just a triple shy of the cycle going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and 2 runs scored.

The Voyagers would battle back in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the Missoula advantage to 4-3. Kyle Crowl would drive in a pair in the fourth on a double continuing his solid series at the plate. Crowl has doubled 4 times overall in the series. Kyle Hays would hit a solo blast in the next half inning to cut the deficit to just 1 with two-outs. Crowl would finish 3-for-4 and Hays was 1-for-4.

3 consecutive extra base hits in the seventh for Great Falls would tie the game at 5. After a double from Crowl, Jacob Olsen would knock him in with a double of his own before scoring on a triple from Andy Atwood to tie the score. Mark Simon would settle things down in the inning however retiring the next 3 batters in order. Simon would also get out of a bases loaded jam in the next frame to keep Missoula out in front.

Jayson Newman would then do the rest in the bottom of the ninth striking out the side in the frame to earn his third save in as many opportunities. The Southern California native has yet to allow a run in 7 appearances this season striking out 10 in 6 1/3 innings.

As they have numerous other times this week, the Billings Mustangs (43-49) (25-19) would once again find their way into the win column to stay just one game back of the PaddleHeads (61-31) (26-18) in the second half race.

Missoula will close out their regular season road slate Monday in the rubber match of a 3-game set opposite the Voyagers at Centene Stadium. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. Hear all the action on ESPN Missoula 102.9 F.M.

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