The Kelowna Falcons used a strong seven innings from Andrew Alvarez and a key late-inning hit from Taylor Wright to pick up a 3-2 victory over the Walla Walla Sweets in WCL action Tuesday night at Borleske Stadium.
It was the opener in a three-game set between the clubs and halted Kelowna’s five-game losing streak.
FALCONS WIN!!@andrewalvy56 goes 7 strong innings while Taylor Wright delivered the game-winning RBI double in the 8th as Kelowna snaps their five-game losing skid with a 3-2 win over the @WWSweets!#BaseballLivesHere #WCL pic.twitter.com/s8IuNouGCt
— Kelowna Falcons (@kelownafalcons) August 1, 2018
Andrew Alvarez threw seven strong innings along with terrific relief efforts from James Brooks and Cal Hehnke while Taylor Wright drove home the game’s winning run in the 8th inning to help the Falcons snap their five-game losing skid with a big win to open their road trip.
The game started on a strong note for Kelowna with three straight hits allowing the Falcons to take an early lead. Matt Voelzke and Davis Todosichuk each started the game with singles before Trent Tinglestad laced an RBI double to left field to give the Falcons a 1-0 score.
Lucas Soper kept the scoring going as he lined a ball to left center field that was caught on the run to score Todosichuk and push the Falcons lead to 2-0 after just a half inning of play.
Andrew Alvarez gave up a lead-off single and shut the door after that, sitting down 10 straight Sweets through the 1st to the 3rd inning before giving up another hit in the 4th inning of play and was excellent on the bump.
Both starters in Alvarez and right-hander Ty Hueckman threw up plenty of good innings from the mound before Walla Walla inched closer in the game as Nick Nyquist legged out a potential double play ball to get the Sweets on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 6th inning.
The Sweets got the game even on an error that allowed a runner to move to 3rd with one out and a well-executed safety squeeze to bring a run home off of the bat of Danny Sinatro to tie the game up at 2-2.
The Falcons didn’t take long to respond, however, and were quick to get their lead back in the 8th inning. Taylor Wright lined an RBI double off the wall in right field on a 3-2 pitch with two outs to score Lucas Soper from second base and give Kelowna a 3-2 advantage.
James Brooks pitched a perfect 8th inning before Cal Hehnke came on in the 9th inning and retired the Sweets in order for his 7th save of the season and cap off the Falcons 24th victory of the season.
Alvarez went seven strong innings giving up just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts for his first win of the season while Hueckman took the loss despite throwing eight very good innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and striking out three.
The Falcons (24-20/10-9) continue their seven-game road trip as they take on the Walla Walla Sweets (23-23/8-11) in the second of their three-game series at Borleske Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
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