(Photo credit: Mark Rein/Scottsbluff Star-Herald)

By Miles Klotz

GERING, NE - In their longest game of the summer by a wide margin, the Western Nebraska Pioneers put together another magical comeback to top the Hastings Sodbusters, 12-8, at Oregon Trail Park Stadium.

Eerily similar in nature to a game just over a week ago between the Pioneers and Sodbusters in Gering, Western Nebraska (24-11) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against Hastings starter Daylon Owens in the bottom of the second inning, with a two-run single from Luther Woullard leading the charge. From there, however, the Pioneers fell behind after Brandon Morse struggled with command. Morse allowed four runs on four walks and five hits over four innings of work, but took a no-decision in the outing.

Just like a week ago, when the Pioneers trailed by three runs and battled back, they fought back from down three in the sixth inning. After Daylon Owens exited after seven walks and four runs on four hits over four innings, Gavin Gragg took the ball for Hastings, and pitched a clean fifth before falling apart in the sixth inning. Andrew Bates got a rally started with a one-out triple, and a few batters later, Colin Ludwig had an RBI single to tie the ballgame. He then scored on a Beau Bratton groundout to make it an 8-7 Pioneer lead.

From there, Logan Gilbertson surrendered the lead right back in the top of the seventh, but the Pioneers rallied again in the bottom half. A two-run single from Bratton capped off another four-run inning, and helped give Gilbertson his league-leading sixth victory.

On the day, the Pioneers showed excellent plate discipline, setting a record with 15 walks on the night. Donovan Meadows took the loss for Hastings, allowing four runs on two hits and three walks while recording just two outs. Jeff Hakanson made another scoreless appearance out of the Pioneer bullpen, his seventh scoreless outing of eight appearances on the summer.

The Pioneers will look for the two-game sweep of Hastings on Saturday in the series finale. Jack Sinclair gets the ball for the Pioneers, with first pitch set for 6:35 PM MST.