O’FALLON, Mo.–One night after a heartbreaking, season-opening loss, the River City Rascals came up clutch late to defeat the Washington Wild Things 3-2 on Friday afternoon, evening the series at a game apiece. Trevor Achenbach delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Rascals got the scoring started courtesy of an RBI double off the right field wall from Kameron Esthay in the first inning. However, the Wild Things immediately responded with a pair of runs of their own, thanks to a solo home run from Hector Roa and a run-scoring single from Mick Fennell in the top of the second.
The game would then go scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, when the Rascals tied the game 2-2 on a two-out RBI double from Braxton Martinez that just bounced in front of the rightfielder Roa. With the game still tied entering the bottom of the eighth, Cody Livesay drew a lead-off walk, stole second base, and was bunted to third by JD Hearn–setting up Achenbach’s big hit. Jackson Sigman worked around a one-out double from Javier Betancourt to earn the save in the top of the ninth.
Rascals starter Jason Zgardowski, in his first professional start since 2014, allowed two runs over five innings in a no-decision. Anthony Herrera worked two scoreless innings and Joe Mortillaro (1-0) earned the win, pitching a 1-2-3 top of the eighth with two strikeouts.
Wild Things starter John Havird also took a no-decision, allowing two runs in six innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Reliever Tyler Barss (0-1) took the loss.
The Rascals (1-1) look to take the series lead over the Wild Things (1-1) on Saturday night at CarShield Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CDT. Southpaw Alec Byrd will start for the Rascals, and will be opposed by Ty Mondile.
