LINCOLN, Neb—The Lincoln Saltdogs (29-44) handed the Sioux City Explorers (48-26) their most lopsided loss of the season in a 16-4 rout at Haymarket Park.
The first three Saltdog batters reached base in the first against left-hander Jaren Jackson. Mikey Kane’s single to left-center opened the scoring, and Lincoln loaded the bases with one out later in the frame.
A wild pitch from Jackson delivered another run, and he walked Drew DeVine to reload the sacks. By inning’s end, the Saltdogs plated four unearned runs. Gustavo Sosa doubled the Lincoln lead with a grand slam to left in the following inning, pushing the Explorers into one of their largest deficits of the season.
J.D. Scholten came on in the third inning, making his first appearance since July 3 against the Kane County Cougars, working through a clean inning and holding the Saltdogs off the board for the first time.
Luis Toribio continued his hot hitting in the fourth inning, driving in Henry George with a liner into center field and later scored on a delayed double steal.
Lincoln’s starter Dylan Castenada’s fourth-inning struggles continued when he served a high fastball to Abdiel Layer, who cranked the offering out to left for a two-run blast, his second in as many days. The Explorers cut the lead in half in the frame, trailing 8-4.
Errors, however, defined the night. The Explorers committed five of them, and Nick Shumpert owned three—the most devastating of which occurred in the bottom of the fourth when Max Hewitt rolled one under his legs as the Saltdogs earned a run back and extended the lead to 9-4.
The Saltdogs picked up two more runs in the fifth, further distancing themselves from the X’s. Sioux City’s bats tapered off over the rest of the game, as the deficit began to sink in as the night moved along.
Lincoln later increased its lead to 16-4, as Sioux City set a season-high for runs allowed in a game.
The Explorers conclude their three-game series Sunday against the Lincoln Saltdogs. First pitch is at 1:05 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.