Fitzgerald Walks Off Jumbo Shrimp in 10th for 6-5 Omaha win

PAPILLION, NEB. — The Omaha Storm Chasers took five of six games this week over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at Werner Park, concluding with a 6-5 walk-off win Sunday afternoon.

Like the previous two nights, the Storm Chasers jumped out early and took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as Tyler Gentry ripped a double that drove in Nick Pratto and Devin Mann to open the scoring, then Cam Devanney followed two at-bats later with a single to drive in Gentry and extend the lead to three runs.

With three runs of support, Omaha starting pitcher Zach Davies cruised through 5.0 scoreless innings to open the game and worked two outs into the sixth inning before a two-out double ended his day.

Anthony Veneziano followed Davies and allowed the runner he inherited to score on a double from Troy Johnston to cut Omaha's lead down to 3-1, giving Davies just the one run allowed over 5.2 innings with three hits and three strikeouts.

Omaha extended its lead to 4-1 in the seventh as Pratto singled in Nate Eaton. Eaton went 3-for-4 on the day with three doubles, the first Storm Chaser hitter to collect three doubles in a game since Dairon Blanco in September 2022. The game was also Eaton's fifth game of 3+ hits this season, a team-best.

Jacksonville slowly cut into Omaha's lead, as Veneziano and Major League Rehabber Carlos Hernández combined for a scoreless seventh inning, but Griffin Conine connected for a two-run homer off Hernández to cut Omaha's lead down to 4-3.

Evan Sisk got the final out of the eighth inning behind Hernández, then Will Klein took the mound in the ninth inning to try and lock down his seventh save of the year. Klein loaded the bases on three walks and surrendered the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly, but stranded the other two runners on.

Omaha failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings, the second game past nine innings in the series with Jacksonville. Steven Cruz got two quick outs but the placed runner on second base came around to score on a two-out single from Cristhian Rodriguez for a 5-4 Jumbo Shrimp lead.

Jacksonville did not lead for long, as Ryan Fitzgerald blasted a two-run home run to right field with one out in the bottom of the 10th to win the game 6-5, his second homer of the year and Omaha's fourth walk-off win of the season.

The Storm Chasers will start a six-game set on the road Tuesday as they take on the St. Paul Saints with a 11:07 a.m. CT first pitch at CHS Field and left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch IV starting for Omaha.