Wichita Starts Strong, Tapers Off In A 10 Inning Series Opener At Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The Wichita Wind Surge lost 7-6 in 10 innings against the Springfield Cardinals in the series opener at Hammons Field. While Wichita led 5-0 halfway through the third, they fell victim to four unanswered Cardinal runs after back-and-forth scoring and now stand 1-12 on the season against Springfield and
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The Wichita Wind Surge lost 7-6 in 10 innings against the Springfield Cardinals in the series opener at Hammons Field. While Wichita led 5-0 halfway through the third, they fell victim to four unanswered Cardinal runs after back-and-forth scoring and now stand 1-12 on the season against Springfield and 2-7 in extras.
On the game's third pitch, Luke Keaschall dinged a leadoff home run off the foul pole down the left field line for his third round-tripper with the Wind Surge and 10th total on the season. This year, Keaschall has slapped eight leadoff homers between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita. Tanner Schobel totaled RBI #33 on a single up the middle, while both he and Carson McCusker would trot home on wild pitches as the Wind Surge batted around in the top of the first for a 4-0 lead.
Say Hello to Leadoff Luke!
— Wichita Wind Surge (@WindSurgeICT) July 10, 2024
Luke Keaschall dings the third pitch of the night off the foul pole for Double-A round-tripper #3.
T1
Wind Surge: 1
Cardinals: 0 pic.twitter.com/hDFuRsLmxM
Andrew Cossetti worked a full count with two outs in the top of the third before pulling a single into the left field corner, allowing McCusker to score standing from first for the fifth straight Wichita run and Cossetti’s 23rd RBI of the season.
Hugging The Chalk Toward The Corner!
— Wichita Wind Surge (@WindSurgeICT) July 10, 2024
Andrew Cossetti brings around Carson McCusker from first on an RBI single down the line.
M3
Wind Surge: 5
Cardinals: 0 pic.twitter.com/hdmcthE6B7
Springfield started to chip away at the Wind Surge lead in the bottom of the third after MLB rehabber Tommy Edman singled a ball to left field for his first hit in his first game played in 2024 to plate the first Cardinals run. Two more came home on an infield error that Jimmy Crooks sent to the right side two batters later; then Mike Antico flew out to Jeferson Morales to end the inning with a 5-3 score that remained in favor of Wichita.
Jake Rucker would hit a sacrifice fly to shallow left field in the top of the fourth, where Ben Ross slid home safely against a throw that bounced past the Cardinals catcher in Crooks. Bryan Torres beat out an infield single in the bottom half of the frame, where Nathan Church scored from third to keep Springfield hot on the heels of the Wind Surge in a two-run game at 6-4.
Donuts appeared on the scoreboard for the next inning and a half until Church left the yard for the seventh time this season, and second against Wichita, on a solo shot to right field to open the bottom of the sixth. Noah Mendlinger nearly went back-to-back, but he smacked a long foul ball just to the right of the foul pole before flying out to Ross for the inning’s first out. Springfield would tie the game 6-6 two-thirds of the way through the contest on an RBI base knock up the middle from Torres.
Keaschall grounded a single, his third hit of the night, up the middle to begin the top of the ninth. After advancing to second on a walk and third on a double play, Brandon Komar would strand the go-ahead run on a swinging strikeout. Miguel Rodriguez retired the Cardinals in order to push this series opener to extras in the Ozarks.
Kyler Fedko entered as the automatic runner on second in the top of the tenth. He advanced to third on a groundout, again as the go-ahead run. Although Cossetti saw nine pitches before holding back on a check swing to earn a walk and put runners on the corners, a fly out to center kept a runner 90 feet away from a new Wind Surge lead for the second straight inning.
Antico singled the other way to left to put runners on the corners in the bottom of the tenth. Jacob Buchberger followed with a game-winning sacrifice fly to center field for a 7-6 final score in Springfield.
Rodriguez drops to 1-6 on the season after being pinned with loss, giving up the winning run while surrendering a hit and striking out two in one and two-thirds innings of relief.
The Wind Surge continue their final series before the All-Star Break at Springfield tomorrow, Wednesday, July 10, at Hammons Field, with a 7:05 PM first pitch. You can listen to Wind Surge games on ESPN Wichita 92.3 FM, windsurge.com, or watch them online at MiLB.TV and Bally Live. For ticket information, please visit windsurge.com.