Cabrera and Burt Pace Surge to Series Opening Win in Arkansas

Arkansas 7

Wichita 10

LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Wind Surge opened their final away series with a 10-7 win against the Arkansas Travelers. Roy Morales, Jermaine Palacios, and D.J. Burt each picked up three hits on the night to set the pace for the Wichita offense.

The Travelers got on the board first in the bottom of the first off a throwing error by Trey Cabbage that allowed Julio Rodriguez to score. A key moment for Wichita came in the bottom of the third. With a 1-0 lead, Arkansas had loaded the bases with one out in the inning. Jordan Balazovic recorded a strikeout and a groundout to get himself out of the jam and keep the Surge within reach. The momentum carried to the top half of the next inning for Wichita to jump out ahead. Like the Travelers in the previous half inning, the Wind Surge were able to load the bases with no outs in the inning. Leobaldo Cabrera drove in a pair of runs with a sharp line drive to left field for his 5th double of the season. D.J. Burt then followed up Cabrera with two runners still on base by clearing the bases and bringing the score to 4-1 Wichita. Burt singled on a line drive to center field to allow Cabbage and Cabrera to score to extend Wichita’s lead.

Leo and @dj_burt_ drive in two each and it's 4-1 Wichita! pic.twitter.com/qaSQ4MDxCO

— Wichita Wind Surge (@WindSurgeICT) September 1, 2021

After Arkansas cut the lead down to one with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Wind Surge plated a run in the sixth, seventh, and three runs in the eighth to put the advantage at six runs. Jermaine Palacios hit a two-out solo home run that cleared the left field wall for his 19th of the season.

Palacios powers this one over left!

Top 6 | Wichita 5, Arkansas 3 pic.twitter.com/zLhgw7GaIt

— Wichita Wind Surge (@WindSurgeICT) September 1, 2021

In the seventh, D.J. Burt led the inning with a single to right field. After stealing second and setting himself in scoring position, Burt was driven in off an Aaron Whitefield single again to right field. In the eighth inning, Trey Cabbage started the inning off with his eighth double of the season on a fly ball to center field. Leobaldo Cabrera picked up his third RBI of the evening by driving in Cabbage with a single to left field. Like the fourth inning, D.J. Burt followed Cabrera with another RBI single to right field to score Cabrera. Aaron Whitefield capped off the inning with the third RBI single of the frame by scoring Palacios off a soft fly ball to right field. Jermaine Palacios closed out the scoring for Wichita in the ninth by adding an extra run. With Trey Cabbage on second, Jermaine Palacios drove in his second of the night with a ground ball to right field, plating the 10th run of the night for Wichita. Palacios finished his evening going 3-5 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored.

The Travelers made the game closer than it seemed with a grand slam off the bat Kaden Polcovich to bring Arkansas within three runs. Hector Lujan then came out of the bullpen and shut down the hope for Arkansas with a fly out and strikeout to seal a 10-7 opening series victory.

Jordan Balazovic got himself into jams a couple of times, but no damage was done. In his 17th start, Balazovic lasted 4.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on nine hits while striking out three. Zach Neff kept the Travelers off the board in his 2.1 innings of relief as the first one out of the pen and picked up his 8th win of the year.

NOTES: Wichita added pitcher Ben Gross from High-A Cedar Rapids today. Pitcher Jason Garcia was promoted to St. Paul today. Andrew Bechtold was placed on the 7-day injured list. Wichita has the best road record in the league at 34-21.

COMING UP: Wichita will play game two of the series against the Arkansas Travelers tomorrow evening (09/01). First pitch is set for 7:10 pm from Little Rock, AR. Wichita will start RHP Chris Vallimont (5-6, 6.00 ERA) against Arkansas LHP Steven Moyers (3-2, 2.68 ERA). RADIO/TV: KGSO 1410 AM and 93.9 FM, MiLB.TV and Windsurge.com.