Thanks to the 7th inning heroics from Kieser, Novak, and Szymczak the Joes took down the Locos 7-5 yesterday to boost their record to 11-3 and drop the Locos to 6-8. 

The Locos started out the contest strong and led 5-2 through 7.5 innings. Matteo Pare had another excellent start on the mound. His final line was: 5 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, and 4 hits allowed. Bowen started the scoring by hitting a 2 RBI double in the 3rd. Alexander and Shinkle batted in the other 2 Loco runs in the 4th and 7th. 

The Joes tasked Conner Hutchinson with the start. He pitched 4 innings and allowed 4 runs, none of which were earned. He also struck out 4. Griffen Paige entered the game in the 5th and allowed 1 run in 4 innings of work. That line was enough to give him his 1st win of 2024. Gilkerson and Szymczak each knocked in a run in the 2nd and 4th. It wasn’t until the 7th that the Joes struck again. After pitching a quick 6th, Christian Pownall re-entered the game for Lima to pitch the 7th. After a walk and a hit-by-pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd Eli Kieser launched a ball out of the yard to left, tying the game. Ryan Novak later hit a sac fly to give the Joes the lead and Mitchel Szymczak knocked in another run later in the inning. Dispute loading the bases in the 9th the Locos failed to score and Jake Teke picked up his 2nd save of the year. 

The Locos look to avoid getting swept tonight back home at Simmons Field.