PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers split a doubleheader series against the St. Paul Saints Friday at Werner Park, as Omaha claimed the first game 6-5 in seven innings, but dropped the second game 8-3.
OMAHA 6, St. Paul 5 (Final/7)
In the bottom of the first, Ryan Fitzgerald drew a one out walk, then promptly scored on an RBI double from Drew Waters for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Nelson Velázquez singled in Waters for a 2-0 Omaha advantage.
The Saints tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third inning off Omaha starting pitcher Tyson Guerrero as a single and a double opened the inning, and a groundout scored the first run for St. Paul. A second double of the inning scored another run to tie the game.
Omaha regained the lead in the bottom of the third as Fitzgerald and Waters drew back-to-back walks with one out in the inning to set Velázquez up with two outs to drive both in with a double for a 4-2 lead through three innings.
A double, passed ball and groundout scored a run for St. Paul in the fourth, then a pair of hits plated one more in the fifth against Guerrero in his Triple-A debut. The left-hander tossed 4.2 innings in his first start with the Chasers, with four strikeouts to go along.
Eric Cerantola replaced Guerrero in the top of the fifth inning with two outs in the frame and allowed the runner he inherited to score, the fourth and final run charged to the starter, but Rodolfo Durán caught a runner stealing to end the frame.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Nick Pratto, Devin Mann and Durán each drew walks to load the bases. Then, a wild pitch scored Pratto and an errant throw on the play played Mann as the Chasers took the 6-4 lead and kept the lead for the rest of the game.
Left-hander Evan Sisk recorded the final out of the top of the sixth inning behind Cerantola and stranded a pair of runners on and despite allowing a run to score on three hits in the seventh, Sisk locked down his 12th save of the season to secure a 6-5 victory for Omaha, with Cerantola earning his first Triple-A win.
ST. PAUL 8, Omaha 3 (Final/7)
In the second game of the doubleheader, the first inning went by scoreless before St. Paul took control from the top of the second inning and the Saints led the rest of the way.
St. Paul scored four runs on seven hits and four walks off starting pitcher Chandler Champlain, four in each the second and third innings, for an 8-0 Saints lead after three innings.
Champlain was replaced for Andrew Hoffmann, who followed with two hitless and scoreless innings, including a 1-2-3 fourth and added two strikeouts before Angel Zerpa relieved Hoffmann in the top of the sixth inning. Zerpa also offered two scoreless innings and got double plays to erase baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings.
Omaha went scoreless in the first five innings of the game, as the Chasers mustered just four hits and two walks in that span.
The Chasers finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning as Nate Eaton led off the frame with a single. Two at-bats later, Nick Pratto singled into left field and set up Austin Nola to hit the team’s third single of the frame, scoring Eaton and Pratto for a 8-2 deficit.
Ryan Fitzgerald opened the bottom of the seventh inning with a double and Drew Waters reached second base on a throwing error that plated Fitzgerald for an 8-3 game that remained as the final result of the second game.
The Storm Chasers continue this week’s series against the Saints at Werner Park on Saturday, August 31 as first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. CT and left-handed pitcher Noah Cameron will take the mound for Omaha.
