Jarred
- Updated: June 27, 2019
KELOWNA, B.C. – The Kelowna Falcons smacked a season-high 14 hits to even the three-game series against the Portland Pickles with a 9-4 victory on Wednesday night at Elks Stadium.
Cole Cummings drove in three runs while Tyler Grissom went 3-for-4 with a home run and the bullpen settled the game down as the Falcons earned their 6th win of the season with a complete team effort to force a rubber match against the Pickles on Thursday night.
Scoring came much earlier in the second game of the series than on the opening night as the visitors jumped ahead in the top of the 1st inning, loading the bases with no one out as Jon Burghardt stepped to the plate for the Pickles.
The junior from Morehead State University drove in a pair of runs with a single through the left side of the infield before Chase Luttrell brought home a run on a sacrifice fly to vault Portland ahead by a 3-0 score after the opening of the 1st inning.
The Falcons has an answer in the home half of the inning, loading the bases themselves with no one out as Conagher Sands picked up his first RBI of the season for Kelowna with a sacrifice fly to center field that cut the deficit to 3-1 after a full inning.
Falcons starting pitcher Gabe Smith settled into a groove, retiring five straight Pickles at one point as the Falcons offence came through to start bringing runs into score and getting the game tied in the 3rd inning.
Sands and Matt Voelzke got on to allow Cole Cummings to bring in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field for his first RBI of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2 before Brandon Hupe tied the game, doubling down the left field line as Voelzke plated to even the score at 3-3 after three innings.
Portland took the lead again in the 4th inning on a passed ball but Kelowna responded to kick start their offence even more and take over the game courtesy of a two-run blast from Tyler Grissom, whose first home run of the season gave the Falcons their first lead of the game at 5-4.
The offensive attack continued for Kelowna, adding a run in the 5th frame on a passed ball that saw Brandon Hupe come into score and give the Falcons a 6-4 lead before their largest inning of the night came in the 6th frame.
Three runs scored for Kelowna, who scored for the fourth inning in a row, with Sands driving in his second RBI of the game with a single up the middle before Cummings added to his RBI total, pushing across a pair of runs with a two-run single and extend the Falcons lead to 9-4 into the late innings of the game.
The Falcons (6-11) and Pickles (8-12) conclude their three-game series on Thursday night with the annual Firefighter’s Night taking place at Elks Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 PM with tickets available at the Falcons website as well as at the gate ahead of the opening pitch.
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