Pratt walks off Garden City in game three

By Mike Pilosof

Pratt, KS-Chris Finnegan will want this one back.

Marcelo Aguirre collected three hits including a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, and Pratt climbed out of a 6-0 to beat Garden City 9-8 at Stanion Field Saturday afternoon.

After a scoreless first, the Broncbusters got going in the top of the second. Cullen Glosson singled home a run, and Michael Wright ripped a two-RBI single to center that made it 3-0. Then, in the third, the Broncbusters padded their lead with a Glosson sacrifice fly and a two-run error that put Garden City in front 6-0.

But after holding Pratt scoreless the next two innings, the foundation began to crack. Aguirre clubbed an RBI double in the fifth, and Brenden Tauber slapped a run-scoring base hit. Carson Cheatwood followed with a two-run single, Cooper Bradbury hit a sac fly, and Jake Carroll tied the game with hard ground ball that got past a diving Kyle Jameson.

Garden City regained its footing in the sixth with a walk and a pair of two-out singles-the last by Ibrahim Rodriguez, who delivered a two-run base hit to make it 8-6.

But the normally reliable Caleb Ayers couldn't hold the lead. With two outs and a two-run cushion, Ayers was closing in on another save. That was before Carroll's single that put runners on the corners. Gunner Hutson, who homered on Friday, followed with a single to right, setting up Aguirre, who fought of a 2-1 change and smoked it up the middle for the game winner.

Starter, Michael Thorne went 4.1 innings for Garden City, allowing five runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked one. Will Gardner finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Wright, Rodriguez and Glosson drove in two runs.

Cason Long picked up the win for Pratt, tossing one inning of scoreless relief. Aguirre finished 3-for-4 at the dish with three RBI.