Nine unanswered runs push Aces to another comeback win over Aviators

RENO, Nev. – After being down by as many as six through the first five innings, the Aces rallied to victory on nine unanswered runs in the final four frames to defeat the Las Vegas Aviators, 10-7, at home on Friday night.

Reno’s bats were revived in the second half of the contest and completed its second-straight come-from-behind victory after storming back from down five runs on Thursday. It marks the fourth time this season that the Aces have trailed by four or more runs and came back to win the game. Reno also remains undefeated in games where its opponent score first.

Three of the team’s 11 hits were triples, marking the fourth time in franchise history and first time since June 2, 2016, against Las Vegas. Ben DeLuzio hit two of the three triples, becoming the first player since Steven Souza Jr., on June 30, 2018, against Salt Lake to accomplish the feat.

Vegas struck first, hanging a pair of runs on Jon Duplantier in the first inning to make it 2-0. In the bottom half of the inning, Reno clapped back on a leadoff triple by DeLuzio and an RBI groundout by Juniel Querecuto.

The Aviators extended their lead in the second and third, scoring three and two, respectively, to make it 5-1.

History repeated itself once again as the Aces would string some runs together in the back half of the game. Reno scored four in the fifth behind doubles from Stuart Fairchild and Jamie Ritchie, and a triple from Domingo Leyba. His three-bagger marked the fifth consecutive game with an RBI, as well as his fifth-straight with multiple hits. Leyba also extended his hitting streak to seven games with the base knock.

The Aces went on to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth behind back-to-back walks from Bryan Holaday and Ritchie before DeLuzio smashed his second triple of the game into right-center to bring both runners home. The inning started with the Aces first ejection of the season, as manager Blake Lalli was sent to the clubhouse for arguing balls and strikes.

Reno escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh thanks to Miguel Aguilar who came on in relief to record the final out.

In the bottom half of the frame, Seth Beer crushed a homer into his team’s bullpen in right field to give the Aces their first lead of the ballgame, 8-7.

The Aces were not finished, scoring two in the eighth to take a 10-7 lead. After another Holaday double and a walk from Ritchie, DeLuzio drove a double of his own down the third-base line to bring clear the bases and register his third hit of the game. The centerfielder ended the night 3-for-5 with eight total bases and three RBIs. In the next at-bat, Querecuto would notch his second RBI of the night give the Aces a three-run advantage, 10-7.

Joe Mantiply entered in the top of the ninth, shutting down the Aviators en route to his second save of the season.

The Aces return to action on Saturday for the third game of the series with Las Vegas, beginning at 4:05 p.m. PT at Greater Nevada Field. Josh Green will look to pick up his second win of the season, facing off against Paul Blackburn. Tomorrow’s game can be heard on renoaces.com or KPLY 630 AM locally with Zack Bayrouty on the call.