PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers (18-15/51-56) fell 4-2 to the St. Paul Saints (19-14/61-46) in the series finale on Sunday night. Brett Squires hit a home run and Alejo Lopez reached base 3 times, but an early 3-run deficit was too much for the Storm Chasers to come back from.
Ben Sears (6-2) opened a bullpen game for Omaha, firing scoreless 1st and 2nd innings, then recording 2 outs in the 3rd inning before exiting after surrendering a two-out double. Ethan Bosacker then took the mound, but allowed the inherited runner to score on a 2-run double and gave up another run on an RBI double to extend the Saints’ lead to 3-0.
Jack Pineda hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd inning, then Scott Barlow pitched a scoreless top of the 4th inning to keep the game 3-1.
Barlow kept St. Paul from scoring in the 5th inning as well, then Dan Altavilla worked a clean 6th inning.
The Storm Chasers turned to Anthony Gose in the top of the 7th inning, and he worked back-to-back scoreless frames in the 7th and 8th innings.
Brett Squires hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning, but the Saints scored another run in the top of the 9th inning on a sacrifice fly off Omaha reliever Eli Morgan to bring the score to 4-2.
In the bottom of the 9th, Alejo Lopez hit a 2-out triple, but the Storm Chasers couldn’t bring him across to score, finishing off Omaha’s 4-2 loss.
The Storm Chasers will take the day off on Monday as they travel to Toledo for a series with the Mud Hens beginning on Tuesday. First pitch of the series opener will be 6:05 P.M. CT and Mason Black is scheduled to start for Omaha.