The ThunderBolts got off to a strong start Tuesday night, but ultimately fell 7-5 in the series opener with the River City Rascals at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, MO.
Windy City took the lead on just the second pitch of the game when Guillermo Martinez slugged his first home run of the season over the left field wall. Later in the inning, with All Star Zach Aakhus on first base, Ryne White hit his third homer of the year, making it 3-0.
The rascals came right back, though. They scored two unearned runs against Brent Solich after a Donnie Ecker error allowed Chris McClendon to score and Scott Robinson came in on a Josh Banda sacrifice fly. They tied the game in the second after another error, this one on Martinez, allowed Caleb Curry to score.
Windy City went ahead 7-5 with single runs in the third and fourth innings. The third inning run came on a Jon Ubbenga error, allowing Aakhus to score. In the fourth, it was Martinez singling in Ecker.
River City tied the game in the fifth on a long Scott Robinson homer and went ahead later in the inning on a Danny Sawyer two-run double. That hit chased Solich from the game and the bullpen did its job the final 4.2 innings.
Despite putting runners on in each of the final four innings, the ThunderBolts could not score the rest of the way and the 7-5 score stood. Solich took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned). He is 3-4. Ryan Zink (2-1) got the win and Jason Lowey picked up his 13th save.
The ThunderBolts and Rascals do battle in game two Wednesday night. Ricky Meinhold (0-2) will take the mound for Windy City against Zack Sterner (1-0). Game time is 7:05 on Wednesday night. That contest can be heard on Sportsjuice.com.
