The Big Sticks traveled to Casper Wyoming to take on the Horseheads in game one of their three game set on Tuesday.

Michael Reddick was on the bump for the Big Sticks and turned in a solid performance. He went five and a third innings, allowing two runs on four hits and struck out seven. With how hot the Big Sticks bats have been, you would expect nothing but a win with a performance like that on the mound. Unfortunately, the offense just wasn’t there tonight.

Jacob Small was on the mound for the Horseheads and he pitched an absolute gem tonight. You wouldn’t expect it out of Small, who came into tonight’s game with an 8.79 ERA, but that number has been consistently lowering since his first start. Tonight, he pitched a complete game shutout against one of the hottest hitting teams in the league. He went nine innings, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out 6 and walking 2. He simply outmatched the Big Sticks tonight.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, where Brandon Herter singled to drive in the first run of the game. In the very next inning, Joe Schmidt drove an RBI double to make it 2-0 Casper.

Reddick was relieved by Matt Slowick in the fifth who struggled in his Big Stick debut. He finished the game pitching 2.2 innings allowing three runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out (you guessed it) three. Certainly not the best debut but not a terrible performance by any means.

The game was busted open in the bottom of the seventh inning. Preston Joye blasted an RBI single with two on to make it 3-0 Horseheads. The very next batter Ryan Callahan hit a double to bring in his predecessor. Casper got their third hit in a row thanks to a double from Hank Dunn that drove in Callahan, to make it our final score of 5-0.

With the loss, the Sticks now fall to 16-13 in the first half, while the Horseheads improve their record to 8-21.

The Big Sticks hope to bounce back on Wednesday, June 30 at Mike Lansing Field in Casper with first pitch set for 6:35 PM MDT.