Hamilton Homers Twice, Surge Defeat Travelers 6-4

June 5, 2021

Arkansas 4

Wichita 6

Wichita, KS – A multi-homerun game for Caleb Hamilton led the way for the 18th victory of the season for the Wichita Wind Surge as they defeated the Arkansas Travelers in the fifth game of the six-game series.

Jordan Balazovic made his season debut tonight for the Wind Surge starting on the mound. Balazovic had a quality performance in 3.1 innings of work. The young righty allowed no runs on one hit and struck out five Arkansas batters.

After being shutout for the first five innings, Wichita exploded for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. Entering the inning down 1-0, the Surge plated their first run of the game off a throwing error on Arkansas, allowing Jose Miranda to score from third on a sharply hit ball by Roy Morales. With runners on second and third after the error, Caleb Hamilton brought everyone home with a line drive three-run homer to left field that barely stayed in fair territory. The 364-foot home run was Hamilton’s first of the season. Following up Hamilton, Andrew Bechtold continued the rally with a solo shot to center field. Bechtold’s smash traveled 433 feet and fired off his bat at 105 miles per hour for his second of the 2021 season.

After the Travelers cut into the Wind Surge lead with two runs in the top of the seventh to make it a 5-3 game, Caleb Hamilton capped off his day with a solo shot to left center for his second long ball of the evening. Hamilton’s four RBIs in tonight’s contest tie him for the club lead for most RBIs in a single game alongside teammates Aaron Whitefield and Jose Miranda.

Arkansas made the game interesting late, but Calvin Faucher shut down the opportunity by picking up his first save on the season. Faucher pitched the final 2.1 innings in relief, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out three Travelers.

NOTES: Jose Miranda extends his hitting streak to eight games. Jermaine Palacios extends his hitting streak to nine games.

COMING UP: Wichita will host the Arkansas Travelers, Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, in the final game of the series Sunday afternoon, with the first pitch at 1:05pm. Wichita will start RHP Chris Vallimont (0-1) against Arkansas’s RHP Tyler Herb (1-2). RADIO/TV: KGSO 1410 AM and 93.9 FM, MiLB-TV and Windsurge.com

Tickets for Wind Surge home games are available at https://www.milb.com/wichita/tickets/single-game-tickets