PAPILLION, NEB. – Kameron Misner was the hero of the game for the 2nd straight day after hitting a walk-off home run to give the Omaha Storm Chasers (19-22) a 7-6 win over the Toledo Mud Hens (21-21) Thursday night. Misner walked off the Mud Hens on Wednesday with an RBI double and followed with a 3-for-5 performance with 3 RBI in Thursday’s game, including the 9th inning home run.
The scoring began in the bottom of the 1st inning when Misner hit an RBI double to put the Storm Chasers up 1-0.
The Mud Hens responded in the top of the 2nd inning with a solo home run and RBI double off Omaha starter Shane Panzini to give Toledo a 2-1 lead.
The Storm Chasers took the lead back 3-2 in the bottom of the 2nd inning on a run-scoring double from Josh Rojas and another RBI from Misner.
Omaha added to the lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Brett Squires collected his first Triple-A hit, a 2-run home run to make it a 5-2 Storm Chasers lead.
Panzini came out of the game for Bailey Falter to open the top of the 4th inning, who faced 3 batters before Ethan Bosacker relieved him. Bosacker worked out of the 4th by stranding the bases loaded to keep Omaha up 5-2.
In the top of the 5th inning, Bosacker loaded the bases then hit a batter to cut Omaha’s lead to 5-3, but finished the frame without allowing another run.
Andrew Pérez fired a perfect top of the 6th inning and Josh Rojas tacked on another run with a solo home run in the bottom half to extend the Storm Chasers lead to 6-3.
Pérez issued a leadoff walk in the top of the 7th inning but retired the next 2 batters before Jose Cuas took over. Cuas allowed both the inherited runner and a run of his own to score on a pair of RBI singles to cut Omaha’s lead to 6-5.
Cuas returned to the mound for the top of the 8th inning, but after allowing a one-out single, the Storm Chasers looked to Eric Cerantola to keep Omaha in front. Cerantola allowed the inherited runner to come home on a run-scoring single, tying the game 6-6.
Cerantola recorded the first 2 outs of the top of the 9th inning and Anthony Gose recorded the 3rd with an inning-ending strikeout to keep the game tied and give Omaha a chance to walk it off.
Misner led off the bottom of the 9th inning and took no time to finish the game, tying for the team lead with his 7th home run of the year and walking it off for the 2nd straight day, concluding the 7-6 win.
The Storm Chasers return to Werner Park to host the Mud Hens on Friday evening for the 4th game of the series. Omaha has Mitch Spence scheduled to start and first pitch is set for 7:05 P.M. CT.