Wingnuts win home opener 1-0 in 10th inning

It can be most difficult to score one run when the goal is to score one run.

Locked in a scoreless tie with Winnipeg in Tuesday night’s home opener, the Wingnuts were coming up empty after sacrifice bunts and stolen bases in the middle and later innings.

They needed some help, and Winnipeg provided it with two walks in the bottom of the 10th. Luis Hernandez followed them with a single to center field, scoring Jon Nester with the only run in Wichita’s extra-inning win at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

Nester hit a one-out double in the 10th before Jayce Ray was intentionally walked with two outs and No. 9 hitter Taylor Oldham walked on four pitches to load the bases. Hernandez hit a full-count changeup from Benji Waite to account for the Wingnuts’ only breakthrough.

“When they give two walks straight to the guys in front of me, I was like, ‘I’ve got to get ready, two outs,’” Hernandez said. “I tried to get ready. I don’t get excited. I got confident after a couple pitches, I saw the ball good. I know 3-2 I’ve got to put the ball in play.”

The Wingnuts outhit Winnipeg 10-6 but missed chances to score early and failed in their small-ball approach that began, symbolically, in the fifth inning when they were unable to score despite three singles and a pair of stolen bases.

Two of the singles didn’t leave the infield, and the third one allowed Winnipeg to escape the inning with no damage done. Taylor Oldham’s bunt was fielded by third baseman Josh Mazzola, who had no play on Oldham as Brent Dean, who wasn’t expecting the bunt, didn’t attempt to score from third.

Jayce Ray strayed too far from second, though, and was thrown out trying to return.

“I felt like we ran ourselves out of some situations tonight,” Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper said. “We did some silly stuff tonight. …We gave one away (on Oldham’s bunt). That’s a run right there for us.”

The Wingnuts didn’t score in the seventh after Dustin Geiger’s leadoff single and David Espinosa’s sacrifice, and Geiger was thrown out trying to steal for the final out in the ninth. Wichita had hits to start each of the first three innings but stranded each baserunner.

Wichita’s pitching gave similar fits to Winnipeg, though. The Goldeyes stranded runners in scoring position in three of the first six innings but didn’t have a hit after the sixth.

Former Wichita State left-hander Charlie Lowell kept Winnipeg scoreless for six innings, striking out five without a walk, before four Wingnuts relievers each pitched a scoreless inning.

Nester’s 10th-inning double was the first Wichita extra-base hit since Hernandez started the first with a double. The inning didn’t begin to unravel for Winnipeg, though, until Waite issued the intentional walk.

“You could tell, after the intentional walk, he had a hard time getting back in the zone,” Hooper said. “I talked to our guys about it – if he struggle with it, let’s work on it. For whatever reason, it’s not easy for guys to do when they have to find a way to get back in the zone.”

Waite needed the zone for the full-count offering to Hernandez, and his off-speed pitch caught much of the plate. Hernandez didn’t hit it hard, but it lofted into center field in front of a desperate Adam Heisler, who watched it bounce well out of reach.

“Finally we got a good opportunity there,” Hernandez said.

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Wingnuts win home opener 1-0 in 10th inning."