The Brazos Valley Bombers rode a strong outing from pitcher Will Currier and took advantage of four Weatherford errors to beat the Wranglers 6-2 on Thursday night at Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid that began on Monday night with a shutout loss in Weatherford, giving the Bombers a measure of revenge against the Wranglers.
Currier turned in the longest outing of the season for a B’s starter, going 6.1 innings while giving up just four hits and no earned runs. Currier struck out four in joining Casey Whitmer as Bombers pitchers with 2-1 records.
Mark McGonigle led a Bombers hitting attack that broke a 20-inning scoreless drought by going 2-for-5 and scoring two runs. The Brazos Valley attack also got a double from Daman Aaron and safeties from Joseph Towns, Ryan Weber, and Keith Stein. Though the Bombers picked up only six hits on the night, they used Weatherford’s four errors to score three unearned runs.
The Wranglers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the B’s responded in the third. McGonigle led off with a single, then Towns reached base on an error. With runners at second and third, a wild pitch allowed McGonigle to score, and when the catcher’s throw to the plate was wild, Town took his chances as well. A quick throw by the shortstop, though, nabbed Towns and kept the Weatherford lead at 2-1.
The Bombers brought the crowd of 1,002 to their feet and took control of the game in the fifth inning. Aaron, making his first start with Brazos Valley after his season at Texas A&M, led off with a double. McGonigle followed with a single, and Will Basom drove home Aaron with a sacrifice to tie the score. Towns walked, and after a Stein strikeout, both runners moved up on another Weatherford wild pitch. That brought up Weber, who managed an infield single to short, scoring Aaron. When the shortstop then threw wild to first, Towns was also able to score and give the Bombers a 4-2 lead.
Brazos Valley added insurance runs in the sixth and the seventh innings. Kyle Sisney scored in the sixth on a Weatherford balk. In the seventh, a Kip Masuda fielder’s choice scored Towns and iced the game for the Bombers.
After pitching into the seventh inning, Currier was relieved by Evan Cox, who pitched 1.2 innings of hitless ball. Tyler Davis pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
The Bombers next go on the road for a pair of games against division leaders. The B’s visit the McKinney Marshals on Friday night, then on Saturday take a turn against the Coppell Copperheads, who have a two-game lead over second-place Brazos Valley. After a Sunday off-day, they return to Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark for two more games against the Copperheads. Monday marks the first visit of the season by Reggy, a travelling mascot entertainer who is the biggest, baddest, purplest party dude on the planet! He’ll be rocking the park and having fun with all the Bombers fans throughout Monday night, presented by KBTX-TV Channel 3. Both Monday and Tuesday are also Bombers College Nights, when students who show their college ID get a ticket for just one dollar, sponsored by Aggie 96.