The first pitch thrown by Travis Smith at Driller Park in Kilgore, Texas last night set a Bombers franchise record. The start by Smith was his tenth of the season, breaking a record set by 2008 Bomber, Jim McGonigle. When Smith struck out Mike Petello to lead off the sixth inning, he tied the Bombers franchise record of strike outs in a single season at 51 with Casey Whitmer. The strike out for Smith also set the record for innings pitched in a single season set the night before by Drew Flaniken. However, Smith’s bid for his first Bomber win came up short, as the Bombers fell 8-6.
After getting down 1-0 in the first inning, the bottom half of the Bombers lineup came alive. A one out double by Alan Harris started the Bombers come back in the second inning. Joe Craven’s walk with two outs was followed by a 2-run double courtesy of John Cannon. With Cannon on second and two outs in the inning, Jesse Payne hit a triple into the right field corner, increasing the Bombers lead to 3-1. The score remained the same until the fifth, when once again; the bottom of the Bombers line up went to work. Cannon led off with a single, followed by a Payne double. Kyle Atkins walked, and Casey Dykes followed him with a double off the wall scoring Payne. RBI singles by Atkins and Brett Parsons in the top half of the 7th, gave the Bombers a four run lead, with just 9 outs to go.
Smith’s record setting performance came up short, as Bombers pitching staff walked the first four batters in the 7th inning. Brett Nicholas and Matt Juengel each drove home 2 runs in the inning, and the Pump Jacks would have an 8-6 lead after the 7th. The momentum the Bombers had was now shifted, as Dusty Ross and Stephen Tromblee got the last six outs to preserve the East Texas victory.
The Bombers will face the Victoria Generals in Victoria, TX tonight and tomorrow night to complete the regular season schedule. The magic number for the Bombers to clinch a playoff spot over the McKinney Marshals remains at two, as the Marshals host the East Texas Pump Jacks tonight in McKinney.