Marks Strong Start Sealed by Steals and Bullpen
BOX SCORE LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. – Easton Marks earned the win in the first start of his professional career and Seth Clausen recorded his longest save of the season as the Fresno Grizzlies used an aggressive running game to build an early lead before holding off Lake Elsinore 8-7 Thursday
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. – Easton Marks earned the win in the first start of his professional career and Seth Clausen recorded his longest save of the season as the Fresno Grizzlies used an aggressive running game to build an early lead before holding off Lake Elsinore 8-7 Thursday night at The Diamond.
The Grizzlies put immediate pressure on the Storm, swiping a season-high 10 stolen bases while scoring in six of the first seven innings.
Fresno stole six bases through the first five innings alone, continually putting runners into scoring position and forcing Lake Elsinore to defend the running game all night.
Fresno grabbed the lead in the first inning when Yeiker Reyes walked, advanced to third on Ashly Andujar's sacrifice bunt and scored on Tanner Thach's sacrifice fly.
Lake Elsinore answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Kyle Fossum erased the deficit an inning later, launching his seventh home run of the season over the left-field wall to tie the game at two.
The Grizzlies took control in the third. Reyes singled and stole second before Roldy Brito lined an RBI triple into right field.
Moments later Brito broke for home, stealing the plate to give Fresno a 4-2 lead before Wilder Dalis doubled to keep the inning alive.
Fresno continued to add on over the middle innings. Dalis singled home Andujar in the fifth before Fossum delivered an RBI single later in the inning.
Jeremy Ciriaco manufactured another run in the sixth, stealing third before Andujar came to the plate.
When Andujar popped up in front of the first base dugout, the first basemen caught it up against the railing but everyone abandoned home plate allowing Ciriaco to dash home and score on Andujar's sacrifice fly.
Then, Jesus Freitez lined a two-out RBI single to center in the seventh to stretch the Grizzlies' advantage to 8-2.
Marks limited the Storm to two runs over five innings while striking out eight in his first professional start.
Yanzel Correa retired the side in order in the sixth and retired the next two batters before Lake Elsinore erupted for five runs in the seventh.
Seth Clausen entered with the tying run on base and struck out Truitt Madonna to end the inning before retiring all six batters he faced over the final two innings, striking out five to earn his seventh save of the season.
The Grizzlies' running game finished with a season-high 10 stolen bases, led by Brito's four steals, the most by a Fresno player this season and the most by a Grizzly since Drew Romo stole four bases on Sept. 7, 2021.
Brito also became the first Grizzly to steal home since Cam Nelson accomplished the feat on April 10.
Fresno’s win pulled them back to .500 in the second half and six games over for the season.
The series continues Friday night at 6:45pm in Lake Elsinore with Ethan Cole taking the ball for the Grizzlies. The Chukchansi Gold Pregame Show begins at 6:30pm on FresnoGrizzlies.com/Listen.
ABOUT THE FRESNO GRIZZLIES
The Fresno Grizzlies are a proud affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization. The club advanced to the California League playoffs in 2025 and continues to post some of Minor League Baseball's highest attended games. The 2026 season marks the Grizzlies' 25th year in Downtown Fresno.