SIOUX CITY, Iowa— Behind their ace Kyle Marman (2-0), the Sioux City Explorers (7-4) held off the visiting Gary SouthShore RailCats (2-8) in a low-scoring affair. Despite a phenomenal outing from Spencer Adams (0-1), the X’s won 3-1.
What would turn out to be a masterful performance didn’t start so hot for the former Florida Atlantic Owl. Elvis Peralta led off the game with a single, and after a line out, Joe Suozzi connected on his first base hit of the outing, placing runners at first and second with just one out.
Marman, however, didn’t panic. He struck out the next two batters he faced and worked through a scoreless first inning.
Sioux City had an opportunity to work their way onto the board as Austin Davis led off with a single. The former TCU Horned Frog was six for six in stolen base attempts heading into the contest, and in his effort to go seven for seven, RailCat catcher Cooper Edwards gunned him down with a perfect throw.
Flash forward to the bottom of the third inning, when Josh Day poked a one-out single to right field, which was misplayed by Baron Radcliff, causing Day to reach second base. Davis grounded to second, moving Day to third.
The next batter, Henry George, rolled over for what should have been an inning-ending ground out. The first baseman, Suozzi, was much too far off the bag to beat George in a foot race, and his underhanded flip to covering Adams was high. George was called safe, Day scored, and the X’s took a 1-0 lead.
From that point on, both starters were dialed in. Marman ran into a little trouble in the fourth. Faced with a bases loaded and one-out jam, the former Cleveland farmhand struck out Cooper Edwards and forced a weak groundout to first base to end the inning.
In their ten games up to this point, Sioux City had yet to score or record a hit in the sixth inning. Heading into tonight’s contest, they were 0 for 30 with 13 strikeouts and two runners reaching via the walk.
Austin Davis led off with a single, ending the hitless drought, but on his second stolen base attempt of the night, he was nailed again by the catcher, Edwards. However, his teammates would be there to pick him up.
Adams surrendered a walk to Henry George, and Luis Toribio tattooed the 1-2 offering from Adams, sending it well over the center field wall, giving the X’s a 3-0 lead.
Jaren Jackson relieved Marman in the seventh. He retired the first two batters in the frame but yielded a solo home run to Jairus Richards. That blast was his fourth home run in his last five games.
That was all the offense that Gary SouthShore could provide. Chase Jessee took over for Jackson and breezed through 2.2 scoreless innings, earning the save in the game.
This three-game set continues Wednesday and concludes Thursday. Start times for both games is 7:05 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. More information is available by calling 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.