Kelowna Falcons

Series Win

KELOWNA, B.C. – The Kelowna Falcons got excellent relief pitching and a three-run 6th inning to help them to a series win and a 4-3 victory over the Cowlitz Black Bears on Saturday night at Elks Stadium. 


Matt Voelzke struck out 7 of the 9 batters he faced in three innings of outstanding work from the bullpen while a three-run 6th inning propelled the Falcons to a come-from-begins 4-3 victory over the Black Bears. 
The Black Bears jumped ahead early in the ballgame, swinging the bat early against starter Blake Tritch. Austin Bell and Luke Price collected RBI singles to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage and a cushion for starting pitcher Alex Salazar. 


The Black Bears added to their lead in the 3rd inning, courtesy of another RBI single off the bat of Price to left field for his second run batted in of the game and a 3-0 Cowlitz advantage heading into the home half of the inning. 
Kelowna responded and began their comeback effort, getting a run on the starter Salazar after back-to-back singles from Austen Butler and Tyler Grissom brought Brayden Merritt to the plate, who was able to beat out a double play and collect an RBI to push a run home and cut the deficit to 3-1.

 
The bullpen for the Falcons took over from there with Nick Nygard coming on for a scoreless inning of work before Matt Voelzke came on in relief and was dominating, striking out the side in the 6th inning as the Black Bears remained ahead 3-1. 


That lead wouldn’t hold up in the bottom half as Kelowna brought 8 batters to the plate and scored 3 runs to take their first lead of the night. An RBI single from James Shimashita was followed by a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded off the bat of Ezra Samperi to even the game before Austen Butler had a crack with two outs. 


The Port Coquitlam, BC native split the middle of the infield with a base hit to the outfield as newcomer Conagher Sands came in to score from second base and give the Falcons a 4-3 lead into the late innings. 
Voelzke continued his dominance into the 8th inning, recording a pair of strikeouts and exiting the contest fanning seven of the nine batters he faced before handing the ball to Connor Hurley in the 9th. 


Hurley sat down the Black Bears in order in the top of the final frame to collect the save as Kelowna pitching recording 16 straight outs to end the ball game and help the Falcons to a 4-3 victory on home soil. 


The Falcons (5-9) look for their first sweep of the season against the Black Bears (4-13) in the series finale on Sunday evening. First pitch is slated for 6:05 PM with tickets available at the Falcons website and at the gate ahead of the opening pitch.

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