Parrish records quality start, and Dungan continues hot streak with four-RBI night

St. Paul, Minn. – Omaha excelled in all aspects of the game to take the series opener in St. Paul. The Storm Chasers used a quality start, five double plays, and 11 hits to outscore the Saints by nine.

The Omaha Storm Chasers (35-36) beat the St. Paul Saints (35-37) 11-2 to take the 1-0 series lead and a commanding 6-1 season series lead.

Center fielder Dairon Blanco started the game with a double before first baseman Nick Pratto opened the scoring with his 12th homer of the year to give the Storm Chasers a 2-0 lead before an out was recorded.

The Saints responded with a run of their own in the third, using a double, sacrifice bunt, and a single to cut Omaha’s lead in half after the third.

Second baseman Clay Dungan hit his third homer in the last two games with two outs in the fourth two put the Storm Chasers lead back to a pair.

St. Paul responded with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the frame to cut Omaha’s lead to just one. The Storm Chasers used a double play for the third time through the first four innings to end the fourth.

Blanco drew a two-out walk in the fifth and stole second and third to move 90 feet from home. Pratto walked before right-fielder Nate Eaton hit an RBI single to make the score 4-2.

Omaha got another run in the sixth, this time without recording a hit. Left fielder Brewer Hicklen drew a walk to start the inning before stealing his 16th stolen base of the season in as many tries. The Saints tried to pickoff Hicklen twice before he stole second, and then again while he was at second. Because the third pickoff was unsuccessful, an automatic balk was called, and Hicklen moved to third. A sacrifice fly from Dungan put Omaha ahead by three through six innings of play.

Left-hander Drew Parrish (Win, 1-1) would go 6.0 innings and earn his first quality start with Triple-A Omaha after earning four quality starts in 10 games with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Parrish allowed two earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

Right-hander Colten Brewer came in to pitch the seventh and allowed walk with one out, but Omaha’s fourth double play stopped St. Paul in their tracks and kept the score at 5-2.

Eaton reached on an error and moved to third on a single from third baseman Michael Massey to start the top of the eighth. Hicklen drew his second walk of the game to juice the bases before Dungan scored a pair with a double to left field. Designated hitter Freddy Fermin kept the storm rolling with a two-run single and extend Omaha’s lead to 9-2.

Left-hander Foster Griffin would come in to pitch the bottom of the eighth, extending his scoreless streak to 13.2 innings after a 1-2-3 inning, aided by a pair of good defensive plays by Omaha’s fielders.

Pratto hit a single that hit the wall on the fly and came back hard enough to keep him from earning an extra-base hit. Massey hit his third homer at the Triple-A level in just 13 games to push the lead to nine heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Omaha used their fifth double-play of the game to take the 11-2 win.

Omaha continues their series with St. Paul on Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 1:07 p.m. Coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on the Sarpy County Tourism Pregame Show on 1180 The Zone. Tomorrow’s probable starter for Omaha is left-hander Austin Cox (2-3, 3.71) while St. Paul sends right-hander Cole Sands to the mound.

Omaha returns home to face off with the Toledo Mud Hens in a six-game series that starts on July 4. The game will feature Independence Day Fireworks presented by FNBO.

The full 2022 schedule can be found here and single-game tickets are now available here.

For more tickets and more information, please visit omahastormchasers.com, call the Werner Park Ticket office at (402) 738-5100, and follow the team on social media. You can follow the team on Twitter @omastormchasers, on Instagram @omahastormchasers, and “like” the team on Facebook at facebook.com/omahastormchasers.