PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers (29-31/62-72) rolled to a 6-1 win over the St. Paul Saints (34-28/76-60) on Saturday night. Jacob Berry went 3-for-4 in the game while Alejo Lopez drove in 4 runs in the Storm Chasers’ 3rd straight win.
The Saints scored first, getting on the board in the top of the 1st inning with an RBI single off Vince Velasquez (2-1) to take a 1-0 lead.
Velasquez followed with a scoreless 2nd inning and 1-2-3 top of the 3rd inning, then Omaha took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning behind RBI singles from Lopez and Brett Squires.
The Storm Chasers turned back to Velasquez for another perfect frame in the top of the 4th inning for a stretch of 8 straight batters retied going back to the 1st. The hosts added 4 more runs in the bottom half when Drew Waters scored on a throwing error and Lopez hit a 3-run home run to make it 6-1 Omaha.
From there, Velasquez worked around a leadoff walk for a scoreless top of the 5th inning and navigated a two-out single for a clean top of the 6th inning, allowing 1 unearned run over a season-high 6.0 innings, while tying a season-high with 7 strikeouts in his first quality start of the uear.
Behind the starter, Omaha called on Matt Moore who fired a scoreless top of the 7th inning, then came back out in the top of the 8th inning and kept the Saints off the board. Lucas Erceg proceeded to pitch a 3-up, 3-down top of the 9th inning to finish the 6-1 win.
The Storm Chasers will host the Saints for the series finale Sunday afternoon at Werner Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 P.M. CT and Lucas Braun is in line to start for Omaha.