SPRINGFIELD — An RBI infield single from DH Bruce Caldwell in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Springfield Cardinals to the 8-7 walk-off win against the Arkansas Travelers before 3,803 fans at Hammons Field on Friday night.
Both Cardinals RHP Matt Pearce and Travelers RHP Andrew Moore dealt a scoreless opening stanza, before Springfield (11-9) swung in front in the bottom of the second inning. With one away, 2B Eliezer Alvarez slugged his first Double-A home run, a solo shot to left-center field, lifting the Cardinals into the 1-0 lead.
After Pearce navigated through a third scoreless inning, the Cardinals doubled the lead in the bottom of the third. In his first game of the season, C Jesse Jenner started the inning with a single. After LF Oscar Mercado worked a walk, Moore battled back with a double play ball that left only Jenner at third base with two down. CF Adolis Garcia then placed an RBI infield single up the middle, beating out the play at first base to score Jenner from third and make it 2-0.
Pearce and the Cards kept the Travelers (9-12) off the board until the top of the sixth when Arkansas chipped away. With one down, CF Ian Miller sparked the rally with a bunt single. After racing to third on a double from LF Chuck Taylor, Miller darted in the final ninety feet on an RBI groundout by RF Kyle Waldrop, slicing the Cardinals lead in half, 2-1.
The Travelers, however, battled back to tie it in the top of the seventh. Pearce walked C Marcus Littlewood to start the inning, before giving way to LHP Ross Vance. Vance issued a walk to SS Joey Wong to begin his outing, putting two runners on with no outs. A fly out to deep right enabled Littlewood to tag and take third, before Vance induced a shallow pop out to center field for the second out. With runners at the corners and two away, Vance lost his footing on the mound and was called for a balk, advancing both runners and scoring Littlewood to tie the game, 2-2.
The Cardinals jumped right back in front in the bottom of the seventh. 3B Jacob Wilson and Alvarez opened the frame with consecutive singles, before both advancing on a sacrifice bunt by SS Alex Mejia. After 1B Casey Grayson worked a walk to load the bases with one away, RHP Peter Tago took over on the mound and struck out C Jesse Jenner. With three on and two down, LF Oscar Mercado came through with a go-ahead grand slam to left field, propelling the Cardinals into the 6-2 lead.
Springfield kept swinging away in the bottom of the eighth. With one down and the bases empty, Caldwell hammered a solo shot to right field, stretching the lead to 7-2.
The Travelers, though, refused to go down easily and rallied in the top of the ninth. With a double, an error and a walk, Arkansas loaded the bases with no outs against RHP Corey Baker. 2B Nelson Ward then sliced a two-run single up the middle, leading to RHP Pedro Echemendia (W, 1-0) entering the game. An RBI fielder’s choice from 3B Jay Baum brought home the third run of the inning, bringing the Travs within two runs, 7-5, with one on and two away. CF Ian Miller followed with a bunt single to third that Wilson fielded but threw wide of first, with the throwing error allowing Baum to get to third and Miller to end up at second. A wild pitch from Echemendia brought in Baum and moved Miller to third, before LF Chuck Taylor lined a game-tying RBI single off Echemendia to bring the Travs all the way back, 7-7.
Echemendia escaped further trouble in the top of the ninth and tossed a perfect top of the 10th, before the Cardinals dealt the final blow in the bottom of the 10th. Mercado sparked the rally with a leadoff single against RHP Brett Ash (L, 0-1). After a fly out to right field, Mercado stole his way to second base. Garcia then grounded out to third, but Mercado aggressively moved up to third base on the play. With the potential winning run ninety feet away and two down, Caldwell placed an RBI infield single to the left of the mound, scoring Mercado to send the Cardinals to the 8-7 win in 10 innings.
