Chukars fall in clash with Mustangs
The Chukars scored first, but they were unable to hold on, falling 8-1 in Billings on Wednesday night.
Chukars fall in clash with Mustangs
Will Vasseur
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho– The Chukars scored first, but they were unable to hold on, falling 8-1 in Billings on Wednesday night.
Following a defeat on Tuesday, Idaho Falls entered Wednesday’s game, looking to even the series with the Mustangs.
With revenge on their minds, the Chukars turned to Daniel Silva.
In return, Billings started Pat Maybach.
Both pitchers were sharp early, as they each threw four shutout innings to start the game.
The Chukars drew first blood in the top of the fifth, thanks to Sam Troyer's 21 RBI of the year after he slapped a single to score Anthony Frechette and give Chukars an early 1-0 lead.
The Mustangs quickly responded in the bottom of the fifth inning, when they scored three runs on four hits. Their rally was caped off when Connor Denning slashed an RBI single to give his team a 3-1 lead.
Billings built their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when they tacked on four runs. The final run of the inning came off the bat of Gabe Wurtz, who grounded into a fielder’s choice and put the Mustangs ahead 7-1.
Wurtz knocked in his second RBI of the game when he grounded into a double play in the bottom of the eighth inning, which allowed Taylor Lomack to score and give Billings an 8-1 lead.
Ultimately, the Chukars fell 8-1 at the hands of the Mustangs.
For the Chukars, Silva was paired with the loss, after going 5.1 innings and allowing seven runs on 12 hits.
Billings was powered by a complete game performance from Maybach, who went 9.0 innings and surrendered one run on ten hits while collecting the win.
After the loss, the Chukars saw their record fall to 13-18 in the second half and 29-50 overall.
Idaho Falls will return to action on Thursday evening when they square off with the Mustangs for the third of six games. The first pitch of that game will be thrown at 6:35 p.m.