CLEBURNE, Texas – The Cleburne Railroaders (39-28) used late offense to complete a comeback against the Sioux City Explorers (30-34) Friday night, ending the X’s four-game win streak with a 7-5 defeat. The Explorers started J.D. Scholten again in hopes he could keep his magical run alive, and while he pitched well, it wasn’t enough to charge an X’s victory.
Sioux City’s John Nogowski started the game with a bang, launching a no-doubt homer over the left field scoreboard off former teammate Antonio Velez, giving the Explorers an early 1-0 lead with two outs in the top of the first.
The X’s added again in the top of the second when Sioux City’s Cameron Cannon scored on a throwing error from Cleburne third baseman Bret Boswell, making it 2-0. The next at-bat, Sioux City’s Zac Vooletich sent home Osvaldo Martinez with an RBI single off Cleburne’s Velez, extending the Explorers’ lead to 3-0.
Sioux City’s Scholten continued looking strong in his surprising campaign, shutting out the Railroaders for a couple innings before striking out the side in the bottom of the third.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Railroaders finally ended Scholten’s shutout, scoring when Cleburne’s Blake Grant-Parks came home on a balk. After that, Cleburne’s Hill Alexander knotted it up 3-3 with a two-RBI double off Scholten, sending home both Shed Long and Korey Holland. Sioux City’s Nate Gercken relieved Scholten after that, ending the Iowa State Representative’s night with 4.1 innings and six strikeouts.
The X’s responded in the top of the sixth, reclaiming the lead 5-3 behind a two-RBI single from Sioux City’s Will Busch off Cleburne’s Luke Boyd (5-1), driving in Nick Shumpert and Zac Vooletich.
The Railroaders cut back into the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Cleburne’s Long picked up an RBI double off Sioux City’s Gercken, making it a 5-4 game. From there, Sioux City’s John Sheaks (1-6) relieved Gercken, and finished the inning scoreless.
After a scoreless seventh, the Railroaders tied it up in the bottom of the eighth when Cleburne’s Shed Long ripped an RBI double down the right field line off Sioux City’s Sheaks, sending home Bret Boswell and knotting it 5-5. The next plate appearance, Cleburne’s Korey Holland gave the Railroaders a 6-5 lead with a sac fly, sending home Blaze Brothers. After loading the bases, Sioux City turned to Brendan O’Donnell for his rookie debut, and a passed ball by catcher Will Busch sent home Cleburne’s Long, extending the Railroaders lead to 7-5.
In the top of the ninth, Cleburne’s Kristian Scott took over with a chance to close it out, and despite back-to-back two-out walks, he ended the frame scoreless and earned the save (7).
The Explorers will play game three of a four game series against the Cleburne Railroaders in Cleburne, Texas with a first pitch set for 7:06 p.m. Saturday July 27.
