Chiefs Bats Surge to 10-5 Win
LANSING, MI – Leonardo Bernal, Joshua Baez and Alex Iadisernia all homered in a 10-5 Peoria win at Lansing on Friday. Bernal drove in four Chiefs runs Friday. His two-run homer in the first inning was the exclamation point on a four-run inning. After a Brody Moore RBI groundout and
LANSING, MI – Leonardo Bernal, Joshua Baez and Alex Iadisernia all homered in a 10-5 Peoria win at Lansing on Friday.
Bernal drove in four Chiefs runs Friday. His two-run homer in the first inning was the exclamation point on a four-run inning. After a Brody Moore RBI groundout and an Osvaldo Tovalin run-scoring single, Bernal went to the deepest part of the yard in right center to give the Chiefs an early 4-0 cushion. For Bernal, it was his third blast of the season.
Cooper Hjerpe started on the bump for the Chiefs and was on the attack. The left-hander turned in a 1-2-3 first inning and did not allow a run over four shutout innings. Hjerpe whiffed six Lansing batters and lowered his season ERA to 3.74.
In the top of the fifth, Bernal was again in the middle of a big inning. After Iadisernia plated Tre Richardson to make it 5-0, the Peoria catcher doubled off the wall in center to drive in two more runs to extend the lead to 7-0.
Inohan Paniagua took over for the Chiefs in the home half of the fifth and kept the Lugnuts at bay until the eighth inning. With Henry Bolte at second, Will Simpson hit a two-run shot to the opposite field in right to cut the lead to 7-2. Later in the frame, an RBI groundout made it 7-3. Then, Cole Conn drove in a tally with an RBI single and the Lugnuts were within 7-4. After a sixth hit in the inning, Paniagua was lifted for Tanner Jacobson who recorded the inning’s final out.
The Chiefs wasted no time getting runs back in the top of the ninth. Baez launched a 441-foot blast to left to make it 8-4. Three batters later, Iadisernia delivered the final knockout punch. His long home run to right field bolstered the Peoria lead to 10-4. Iadisernia recorded three hits and drove in three runs.
Perhaps appropriately, Bernal ended the game in the home half of the ninth. On a wild pitch in the date, Bernal threw down to second and retired Luke Mann to end the contest.
The Chiefs will look to make it two in a row on Saturday when Pete Hansen takes the bump. First pitch is set for 7:05 P.M. EST/6:05 P.M. CST.