LINCOLN, Neb— The Sioux City Explorers (40-22) withstood a furious late comeback from the Lincoln Saltdogs (25-37) to claim an 8-4 win at Haymarket Park. After seeing their four-run lead erased in the eighth, the X’s answered with a four-run ninth to seal their seventh straight series victory.
After a scoreless first inning, Sioux City drew first blood in the second. With two outs, Abdiel Layer cranked a 2-1 pitch into the gap in left center field for a double, plating Osvaldo Tovalin, who scored all the way from first.
Nate Blain walked the next batter, Nick Shumpert, and Layer swiped third, placing runners at the corners for Kurtis Byrne. Byrne sent a bouncer back up the middle that never left the infield. The ball traveled far enough for Layer to cross the plate and give Sioux City a 2-0 lead.
The X’s could’ve added a few more, but three different Explorers ran into outs at the plate over the first three innings and four total in the matchup. They shrugged off the baserunning blunders and doubled their lead in the fifth while Kyle Marman breezed through the Lincoln lineup card early.
The right-hander faced a scare in the bottom half of the fifth when Brody Fahr singled to left with runners at first and second and two outs. Max Hewitt looked to score from second, but Henry George came up throwing from shallow left and nailed him at the plate, keeping Marman’s line scoreless.
The teams traded zeros over the next few innings as Marman continued his dominance, firing seven scoreless innings as Nate Gercken replaced him in the eighth. The longest tenured Explorer loaded the bases with nobody out, sending the tying run to the dish.
Spencer Henson stepped to the plate and lifted a sacrifice fly, putting the Saltdogs on the board. Two batters later, Drew DeVine sent a 3-1 pitch back up the middle, reloading the bases still with one out.
That ended Gercken’s night as Steve Montgomery turned to his setup man, Chase Jessee (4-1), to douse the rally. The lefty walked his first batter, and the Saltdogs pulled within one.
Jesse persevered to punch out Kyle Battle for the second out, but another free pass tied the game. The Ohio native retired Danny Bautista Jr to end the inning, but the score was 4-4 heading into the final frame.
Connor Langrell (0-4), who tossed two shutout innings in the series opener, came in for Lincoln in the ninth. Zac Vooletich and D’Shawn Knowles navigated their way into scoring position with one out for Torin Montgomery.
With the infield drawn in, Montgomery sent a chop to short. Drew DeVine snared the baseball, but Vooletich beat the throw to the plate, and Sioux City retook the lead. Tovalin stepped in the box next and slammed a two-run double down the right field line, extending the Explorers’ lead even further. The X’s would add another in the inning and carry an 8-4 advantage heading into the last of the ninth.
Closer Felix Cepeda took the mound in the ninth and did his job perfectly. He finished off the Saltdogs as the Explorers won their seventh consecutive series, returning to Iowa with a two-game lead in the West Division.
The Explorers head home for their final series before the All-Star break, facing the Sioux Falls Canaries for a weekend series. Start time on Friday is 7:05 p.m., Saturday is 6:05 p.m. and Sunday is 4:05 p.m. Ticket packages for the 2025 season are on sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10-, 15-, and 25-game Flex Packs. For more information, please call the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers’ social media channels and the club’s website, xsbaseball.com, for all our news and updates.
The Explorers head home for their final series before the All-Star break, facing the Sioux Falls Canaries for a weekend series. Start time on Friday is 7:05, Saturday is 6:05 and Sunday is 4:05. mTicket packages for the 2025 season are on sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10-, 15-, and 25-game Flex Packs. For more information, please call the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers’ social media channels and the club’s website, xsbaseball.com, for all our news and updates.