Sioux Falls, S. Dak – Sparkling defense and tough pitching by Sioux Falls propelled the Sunfish to a 3-1 win over the Fremont Moo Friday. The loss brings Sioux Falls and Fremont into a first-place tie in the Clark Division for the second half.

Sioux Falls relied on some two-out magic to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth. With two down, Zeph Hoffpauir singled to right, stole second, then scored on Dane Fraser’s single to left to give the Sunfish the lead.

Fremont evened the game in the top of the fifth. Peyton Leeper led off with a double to left, then moved to third when Dillon Sears singled up the middle. Two batters later, Leeper scored to tie the game on a sacrifice fly to center by Austin Baskin.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sioux Falls took back control of the game. Benito Garcia singled to center to leadoff the inning. JT Mix followed with a walk. Two batters later, Will Olson laced a double to center, scoring Garcia and Mix to give the Sunfish a 3-1 lead.

That scoring was more than enough for Sioux Falls starter Andrew Garcia (6-1), who allowed just one run in seven innings pitched. He walked three and struck four. Meanwhile, Dawson Linder was solid for the Moo despite taking the loss. In 5.1 innings pitched, Linder allowed three runs and five hits.

Fremont and Sioux Falls will continue their three-game series Saturday at 6:35 pm in Sioux Falls. The game can be heard on FremontMoo.com and Big Dog 98.9 FM and 1340 AM.