NOTTINGHAM'S CLUTCH BAT LEADS TO EXTRA-INNING WIN OVER EXPRESS

POSTGAME NOTES
Saturday, June 30, 2018 vs. Round Rock Express (TEX)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (45-35) | Round Rock Express (37-44)
NOTTINGHAM'S CLUTCH BAT LEADS TO EXTRA-INNING WIN OVER EXPRESS
ROUND ROCK, Tex. - The Sky Sox won their second straight game over the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond Saturday night in 10 innings hugely benefitted by the bat of Jacob Nottingham who totaled four of the six RBI on the night while knocking his eighth home run of the season. With the win, the Sky Sox have entered into a first-place tie with Oklahoma City in the American Northern division.
A day after ending a six-game Round Rock winning streak, the Sky Sox put them to the test once again in game two of the series Saturday evening at Dell Diamond.
After Colorado Springs stranded the bases loaded in the top of the first, the Express took advantage and made it a 1-0 contest in the bottom half on consecutive doubles by Scott Heineman and Andy Ibáñez.
In the fourth, following a walk to Domingo Santana, Jacob Nottingham put the good guys in front 2-1 with a home run to left field. However, Round Rock quickly retaliated in the bottom half with two runs of their own manufactured on a leadoff single by Willie Calhoun, Hunter Cole double, Tony Sanchez sacrifice fly ball, and Hanser Alberto two-out base hit to make it a 3-2 game.
The Sky Sox took the lead once again in the visiting half of the seventh thanks to clutch two-out hitting by Tyrone Taylor. With Jake Hager and Quintin Berry in scoring position, Taylor stepped up with two outs and lasered a line drive to right field to plate both runners to make it a 4-3 advantage.
Round Rock pressured once again in the seventh when Drew Robinson led off with his first triple of the season, positioning the tying run just 90 feet away with nobody out. Asher tossed the pressure right back after striking out the next two consecutive batters before hitting Christian Lopes on an inside 0-2 pitch and exiting the game, making way for reliever Michael Brady. Facing Calhoun, Brady came back from a 3-0 to a full count, tossing a line out to right field to end the Express threat.
After three consecutive three up, three down halves, the Express broke the mold in the bottom of the ninth. Down by a run, Alberto singled on an infield single, putting the tying run on first base. Following a wild pitch to place Alberto into scoring position, Heineman doubled to left field to tie the game at 4-4. Ibanez shifted Heineman to third base on his infield groundout to second base, and Lopes stranded the potential winning run on third after striking out to send the game to extras.
In the top of the 10th, after Round Rock nearly swept the rug from under the Sky Sox after picking off automatic runner on second base Quintin Berry, Brett Phillips restarted the frame on his single while advancing to second on a wild pitch. Taylor followed with his second hit of the night, moving Phillips to third, and advancing all the way to second base on the throw in from the outfield. After Nate Orf was walked intentionally to load the bases and Santana struck out, Nottingham came up clutch once again with a two-RBI line drive single to centerfield, making it a 6-4 ballgame.
In the bottom half, with an automatic runner Lopes on second for the Express, Calhoun grounded out for the first out of the inning, advancing Lopes to third, while Cliff Pennington struck out to record the second out. Cole ended the ballgame on his groundout to Orf, marking the second extra-inning win for the Sky Sox.
The Sky Sox head into game three of the five-game set against the Express in Round Rock before returning home on Independence Day to host the New Orleans Baby Cakes for five games. For all information on Sky Sox, follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and visit the team's website at www.skysox.com.
__NOTES__
Tomorrow's Preview: In game three tomorrow, the Sky Sox are sending righty Aaron Wilkerson to the mound to square off against Round Rock's southpaw Michael Roth. Wilkerson is searching for his third win of the season, whereas Roth is in search of his fourth.
Division Tie: The Sky Sox have entered into an American North division tie for first place with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. The Colorado Springs squad overcame a six-game deficit since June 17, going 8-4 to end the month and catch Oklahoma City.
Asher's Ninth: Righty Alec Asher tossed his second-longest start of the season since June 9 at Sacramento when he tallied a season-high seven frames while allowing two runs on seven hits. On Saturday night against the Round Rock Express, Asher battled through six and two-thirds innings and, despite giving up 10 hits, he only allowed three runs.
Clutch Hitting: Saturday night's extra-inning win was greatly benefited by clutch bats in the hands of Jacob Nottingham and Tyrone Taylor. In the fourth inning, Nottingham gave the Sky Sox the 2-1 lead on his eighth home run of the season (two run). Down again in the seventh, Taylor helped the Sky Sox regain the advantage on his two-out, line drive single. In the top of the 10th, Nottingham, again, clutched up with a two-out, two-RBI single to centerfield to give the Sky Sox the late lead.
June Recap: The Sky Sox capped off the month of June in victorious fashion in Round Rock, finishing 17-11 overall. Over 28 games, the team batted .261 collectively with 50 doubles, 14 triples, 37 home runs, and 46 stolen bases.
Out-Hit W: The Sky Sox improve to 11-20 when being out-hit by an opponent. On Saturday night, the Sky Sox plated six runs on eight hits while the Express only plated four on their 12 total hits.
Extras, Again: Colorado Springs entered into the sixth extra-inning game and second overall with Round Rock, marking their second victory in extras. Coming into Saturday's contest, the Sky Sox lone win in extra-inning matchups came against Round Rock at Dell Diamond on April 22. The Sky Sox plated four runs in the top of the 10th and just squeaked by the Express after they plated three and stranded the bases loaded to end the game.
That's A New One: To start the top of the 10th inning, automatic runner Quintin Berry was picked off by Tayler Scott to end the no-out, runner in scoring position threat early on.
More Steals: Recently named PCL All-Star Nate Orf and fellow infielder Jake Hager stole the team's league-leading 112th and 113th bags against Round Rock in game two at Dell Diamond. Orf has 19 total on the season while Hager marked his first stolen bag of the season with the Sky Sox.
All-Star Caliber: Colorado Springs' players participating in the 31st Triple-A mid-summer classic are catcher Christian Bethancourt and infielder Nate Orf. Bethancourt, in his first season with the Brewers organization since signing as a free agent on January 8, 2018, was elected and will be representing Colorado Springs as the Pacific Coast League starting catcher. Orf, in his fifth full season with Milwaukee after signing as a non-drafted free agent on June 14, 2013 out of Baylor University, was selected and will be representing the Sky Sox as an All-Star reserve infielder. It marks the Missouri native's first career selection as a mid-season All-Star.
Wheels: With Brett Phillips' RBI triple in the third inning Thursday night, that was Phillips' 7th triple this season, and his 17th career regular season triple with the Sky Sox. With that triple, Phillips passes Ben Paulsen into a tie for 8th place all-time in career regular season triples at 17, with Choo Freeman, and current teammate Nate Orf. (Next up at tied for 6th: Edgard Velasquez Clemente and Nelson Liriano, with 18 triples each.)
7-Run 7th: The 7-run 7th inning by Memphis on Thursday marks the first time that Memphis scored 7 runs in the 7th inning against the Sky Sox. It's the most runs scored in an inning against the Sky Sox since Memphis scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning, back on May 19th (Game 2 of DH).  The last time an opponent scored at least 7 runs in the 7th inning against the Sky Sox was on May 11th, 2017, when Sacramento scored a whopping 13 runs in the top of the 7th against the Sky Sox. The 13 runs were the most runs scored by any opponent in a single inning against the Sky Sox in the modern team's history (since 1988). Sacramento won that game, 17-7.
Middle-of-the-Week Triumph: With the come-from-behind walk-off win on Wednesday afternoon, the Sky Sox improved to 9-1 through their first 10 Wednesday contests this season.
Don't (Or Do) Call It a Comeback: Prior to Wednesday's come-from-behind win, the Sky Sox were 2-20 in games when trailing after six innings this season.
Not the First Time: The Sky Sox won game three against the Redbirds on Wednesday afternoon in wild fashion with a bases-loaded walk-off balk in the bottom of the ninth. On April 13th, 2005, in game one of a doubleheader against the Tucson Sidewinders, Jason Bulger balked in the winning run in the bottom of the 7th, with the Sky Sox winning 4-3 in seven innings.
Comeback Kids: The seven-run comeback Wednesday was the biggest of the season for the Sky Sox this season, but not the largest comeback in Sky Sox history, which was 10 runs on April 30th, 1996 against Tacoma. Tacoma had a 10-0 lead after two-and-a-half innings, and rallied to win, 11-10. On May 1, 2001, the Sky Sox trailed Memphis 15-0 after seven-and-a-half innings on May 1st, 2001 and scored 10 runs in the eighth and four in the ninth, before falling short and Memphis winning 15-14.
This Week's Preview: The Sky Sox are on the road in Round Rock to face the Express for five games, before returning home on Independence Day to host the New Orleans Baby Cakes for five games prior to the All-Star Break July 9-11.
NEXT GAME: Sunday, 7/1 at 5:05 p.m. MT vs. Round Rock Express @ Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX
RHP Aaron Wilkerson (2-2, 2.08) vs. LHP Michael Roth (3-1, 3.38) - Broadcast on XTRA Sports 1300
Next Home Game: Wednesday, July 4 at 7:00 p.m. MT @ Security Service Field
COS TOP PERFORMERS
 Jacob Nottingham (2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI)
 Tyrone Taylor (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI)
 Alec Asher (6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
   RR TOP PERFORMERS
 Scott Heineman (3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI, R)
 Andy Ibanez (2-for-5, 2B, RBI)
 Hanser Alberto (2-for-4, R, RBI)