Bees Drop Season Finale, Conclude Historic Run at Smith's Ballpark

The Salt Lake Bees fell short in Sunday’s season finale at Smith’s Ballpark, losing by a final score of 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Baseball Club to close the book on the 2024 season.

Hayden Seig made his second career start and his first with the Bees and fired a gem on the hill to get things started. The right-hander allowed just one run on five hits across five innings with a trio of strikeouts. The lone run allowed was a sacrifice fly in the first inning before finishing his start with four scoreless frames. Tayron Guerrero and Adam Cimber were the first relief arms out of the bullpen as Guerrero provided a scoreless sixth inning before gave up a pair of runs through 1.2 innings. Hans Crouse added the final 1.1 innings with two strikeouts to finish Salt Lake’s pitching duties. On the other side of the diamond, Bobby Miller made the start for the visiting club and hurled a similar stat line to Seig’s. Miller tallied six strikeouts in five innings of work while allowing just one Bee to score. The relief unit for the Baseball Club totaled four scoreless innings to maintain its edge.

Oklahoma City started the game's scoring in the first inning as Kody Hoese lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home Drew Avans. The Bees responded with a run of their own in the third inning as Zach Humphreys started the frame with a double and later scored on a Cole Tucker two-out single. Oklahoma City threatened in the fifth inning as Chris Okey led off the frame with a single to set up Drew Avans to line a double down the left field line, but a sensational relay from Landon Wallace to Elliot Soto to Zach Humphreys gunned down the go-ahead run at the plate. The Baseball Club would retake the lead in the seventh inning with Austin Gauthier roping a leadoff double before Avans punched a run-scoring into center field. Oklahoma City’s lead stretched to two runs after Alex Freeland doubled home James Outman in the eighth inning. The Bees were able to put the tying run on base, however a stellar diving grab and a groundout sealed the game.

The contest was the final game at Smith’s Ballpark after 30 seasons of calling Smith’s, “The Home of the Bees”. The team will be moving to Daybreak to begin a new era of Bees baseball starting next season. It was a full house to celebrate the ballpark’s legacy as the attendance reached 13,450, the third-largest crowd of the season.