SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
July 14, 2023
By Austin Thomas
EXPLORERS EXPLODE FOR FOUR HOME RUNS
SIOUX CITY TAKES DOWN FARGO IN SERIES OPENER
FARGO, ND– The Sioux City Explorers (30-27) took down the Fargo Moorhead RedHawks (29-25) behind four home runs 8-5 in the series opener Friday night. Both teams combined for seven home runs, with RedHawks Scott Schreiber and Explorers Kyle Kasser both hitting two. Sioux City is now a half game back of Fargo for second in the West Division after the win.
The first inning started with X’s Matt Lloyd scoring on a Jake Ortega double off RedHawks starter Jake Dykhoff (3-4), giving the Explorers a 1-0 lead. Sioux City’s Ortega and Wilfredo Gimenez then came around to score on Kasser’s first home run of the night, making it 4-0 X’s in the first.
The RedHawks scored their first run of the game in the second inning when Fargo’s Schreiber ripped his first homer of the game off Explorers starter Trenton Toplikar (3-1), making it 4-1. The RedHawks added another run in the third when Fargo’s Evan Alexander scored on a Manuel Boscan single off Sioux City’s Toplikar, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
In the fifth inning, Fargo cut the X’s lead to just one run when Nick Novak roped one over the right field wall, making it 4-3.
Sioux City responded in the sixth when X’s Ortega led off with a homer off RedHawks Dykhoff, extending the Explorers lead to 5-3. Sioux City’s Kasser scored later in the inning when Daniel Perez knocked him home with an RBI single off Fargo reliever Edgar Garcia, extending the lead to 6-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, RedHawks Schreiber snatched his second long ball of the night, cutting the lead to 6-4. Toplikar was able to keep the game right there and would leave the game after six innings with five strikeouts, scattering five hits and giving up four earned runs.
The Explorers retaliated in the top of the seventh with a leadoff homer from Matt Lloyd off Fargo’s Garcia, making it a 7-4 ball game. The RedHawks rallied in the bottom of the seventh as Novak scored on a Manuel Boscan single off Sioux City reliever Nate Gercken, cutting the lead to 7-5.
X’s Kasser led off the eighth inning, crushing a homer off RedHawks Tanner Riley, making it 8-5. Explorers’ reliever Kent Hasler struck out two in a perfect eighth inning before Sean Rackoski (11) locked it down for the save in the ninth. The Explorers became the third team to thirty wins in the American Association this season.
The Explorers will face the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in game two of the three game series Saturday night at Newman Outdoor Field. First pitch Saturday July 15 is set for 6:00 p.m. Tickets for the season can be purchased online as XSBaseball.com, in person at the Lewis and Clark Park Box Office or by calling 712-277-WINS. You can catch all the X’s action on aabaseball.tv and on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM.