Waters hits leadoff homer on three-hit night

PAPILLION, Neb. – The Omaha Storm Chasers (49-51) allowed a five-run ninth inning and dropped game two to the Saint Paul Saints (49-50). St. Paul now leads the series 2-0, the first time that St. Paul has outright led a series against Omaha this season.

The Saints put up a run very quickly, hitting a leadoff homer to start the game. A couple more hits later put St. Paul ahead 2-0 before Omaha had a chance to bat.

Designated hitter Drew Waters started the Omaha half of the first with his 10th homer of the season. Shortstop Iván Castillo hit a double before third baseman Clay Dungan knotted the score with an RBI single.

After retiring the second inning in order, the Chasers came out and started the bottom of the second with four consecutive hits. Left fielder Angelo Castellano started the rally with a single before first baseman Gabriel Cancel followed it up with a single of his own. Third baseman Jimmy Govern scored one rune and put Cancel on third with a double.

Waters hit a single into center to score Cancel and put runners on the corners, still with nobody out. Right fielder Brewer Hicklen hit an RBI force out to put Omaha ahead 5-2.

Second baseman Clay Dungan homered to start the third, putting a run on the board for the third consecutive inning to start the game. Catcher Freddy Fermin became the eighth Storm Chaser to record a hit with a single. Waters hit a double to record his third hit in as many plate appearances, leaving home a triple short of hitting for the cycle in just his 17th game with Omaha.

The Saints got back in the scoring column with a solo homer in the fourth and a rally in the fifth to cut Omaha’s lead to 7-4.

The Chasers tried to put a two-out rally together in the fifth, getting a walk from Cancel and a single from Govern, but a strikeout ended the chance.

Dungan was the only Chaser to get a hit in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings for Omaha. Hicklen reached base in the eighth as the final Storm Chaser to reach base in the game.

The Saints came out in the ninth and put a rally together to in the ninth to retake the lead for the first time since the first inning. Right-hander Ándres Núñez (Loss, 5-2) came in to pitch the ninth and allowed just his second earned run since the month of May and the Saints tagged him for five runs overall. Pinch hitter Mikey Perez hit a three-run homer with two outs to give the Saints the lead. The homer was his first hit at the Triple-A level.

Fermin drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, but the Chasers were unable to plate a run in the final frame and fell in game two 9-4.

Omaha and St. Paul will play game three on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Coverage will begin with the Sarpy County Tourism Pregame Show on 1180 The Zone at 6:45 p.m. The Storm Chasers are scheduled start right-hander Jackson Kowar (3-6, 6.34) while the Saints are scheduled to have Jordan Balazovic on the bump.

Tomorrow is Military Appreciation night presented by RTG Medical with special events scheduled to show our appreciation for the military.

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.