Rain-Shortened Victory Gives Voyagers 14th in a Row
Great Falls, MT-On a chilly and wet Sunday afternoon, the Voyagers pitching staff recorded its second no-hitter of the season with a rain-shortened 5-0 win over Missoula at Centene Stadium.
Great Falls (25-9, 46-26) has now won 14 straight games and 11 in a row at home. The 11 at home surpasses a 10-game home streak in the 2007 season. The victory also guaranteed the Voyagers another winning home stand. That makes eight winning home stands in eight opportunities this season. They sport a 9-3 record against Missoula (15-19, 31-41) going into the series finale Monday.
Yosmer Solorzano went the distance to become part of two no-hitters this season for Great Falls, the first team to produce two no-hitters in the same Pioneer League slate since 1975. Solorzano (9-3) notched his league-leading ninth win as he struck out nine and walked just one. He fanned the side in both the second and fifth innings. Solorzano also started the combined no-hitter at home against Helena on August 20th.
The Voyagers offense broke through with the game's first hits and runs in a decisive fourth inning. Mitch Roman led off the frame with a line drive base hit to left. Aaron Schnurbusch followed with a single to center. Jameson Fisher attempted to bunt the runners up and reached on a catcher's throwing error to first. A balk by the Missoula pitcher brought Roman home with the first run. Anthony Villa made it 3-0 with a two-run single smashed into right-center. Sam Dexter used a sacrifice bunt to advance Villa to third. Max Dutto then doubled deep to right-center to score Villa with the fourth run. And, a wild pitch with Dutto at third capped the scoring.
In his first outing against Great Falls, Kai-Wei Lin suffered the loss for Missoula. Lin (1-3) worked all five innings as well and allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk. The Osprey have lost three straight, and are 2-5 in games played at Centene Stadium this season.
Great Falls closes out its final home stand of the regular season with game three against Missoula Monday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. The Voyagers will face Billings in the best-of-three divisional playoff round next week. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, September 9th at Centene Stadium. For ticketing and promotional information, visit www.gfvoyagers.com or call 406-452-5311.