CHARLOTTE, NC – The Guacamayas de Charlotte fell to the Oklahoma City Comets 11-7 on Saturday night in Game Five of their six game series. In true Charlotte fashion, the Guacamayas battled until the very end, but left the tying run in the on-deck circle in the bottom of the ninth.
Charlotte immediately overcame a first inning run by Oklahoma City. The Guacamayas ripped off five runs in the bottom of the opening stanza and sent a total of 11 batters to the plate.
Rikuu Nishida led off the inning with a single, then added an RBI single his second time around. Charlotte also received run-scoring base hits from Michael Turner, Andy Weber, and Jason Matthews. Nolan Jones chipped in a sacrifice fly for good measure.
The Comets swung their way back into the ballgame and took a 9-5 lead with eight unanswered runs over the next four innings. Junior Perez halted the momentum with a solo Home Run to left field in the sixth inning; his second round-tripper in the last two games.
After the Comets pushed two more runs across and built an 11-6 lead, the Guacamayas came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth ready to do some damage. Charlotte loaded the bases with one out and put the pressure on. Caden Connor drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly but a groundout followed and Charlotte’s rally came up short.
Jordan Hicks made his Charlotte debut with a scoreless inning pitched that featured two strikeouts, both with pitches touching 100 mph. Riley Gowens also pitched effectively with two shutout innings out of the bullpen.
Charlotte and OKC wrap up their series on Sunday evening with a 5:05pm first pitch. A series split is within reach for the home team if they can finish the week on a high note.