ThunderBolts Even Series with Gateway in Pitchers’ Duel Win
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CRESTWOOD, Ill. – On the back of an excellent first professional start from Tyler Biddinger, the Windy City ThunderBolts took down the Gateway Grizzlies 3-2 on Saturday in a pitchers’ duel at Ozinga Field.
Gateway (21-22) got the scoring started in the top of the second on a Brennan Orf RBI single. However, it didn’t take long for Windy City (23-19) to respond. In the bottom of the third inning, Justin Fogel hit a sacrifice fly out to center field to score Michael Sandle from third and tie the game at 1-1 entering the middle innings.
The ThunderBolts broke the tie in the home half of the fifth inning. A Carlos Pena single knocked in Josue Urdaneta before a throwing error on Gateway catcher Jose Alvarez allowed Pena to eventually come around and score the second run of the inning for Windy City.
In the top of the sixth, the Grizzlies put runners on first and second with nobody out against Biddinger before the Bolts turned the game over to the bullpen. Carsen Plumadore entered the contest and limited the damage to just one run for Gateway, preserving Windy City’s 3-2 lead entering the final third of the game.
From there, Matt Bohnert, Justin Lovell and Carter Delaney handled the rest of the work out of the bullpen for the Bolts en route to the series-tying win. All told, the ThunderBolts’ bullpen kept the Grizzlies out of the hit column across four innings of work.
Biddinger (1-0) earned his first professional win for Windy City, allowing two runs on six hits in five-plus innings. Gage Vailes (3-1) was hit with the loss for Gateway and Carter Delaney recorded his third save of the season.
The ThunderBolts return to action Sunday for the rubber match with the Grizzlies. Francis Ferguson (1-4, 8.20) gets the start for the Bolts. The Grizzlies counter with Ben Harris (5-3, 3.96). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and broadcast information is available at wcthunderbolts.com.
