Strong Pitching and Two Bombs Headline 5-2 'Stang Win

A fantastic pitching performance and two more home runs launch the Mustangs to their second win in a row Tuesday evening. 

Billings (6-13) defeats Great Falls (5-12) by a score of 5-2. 

Karan Patel (1-0) went six innings giving up just two runs on five hits, two walks, he hit a batter while striking out two. The outing marks Patel's second quality start. 

Patel cruised through five innings unscathed, stranding a runner in scoring position in the top of the 1st. In the 6th, Patel surrendered a leadoff double to Great Falls shortstop Matt Richardson, and hit left fielder Jake Malec with a pitch. Third-baseman Colin Runge singled to score Richardson, and then center-fielder Ryan McCarthy hit a double to score Malec. 

Patel got out of the inning on a flyout by designated hitter Charley Hesse to right, stranding a man in scoring position. 

Offensively, the Mustangs had already scored enough runs to put it away by the time Patel exited. In the bottom of the 2nd, Mustang first-baseman Tyler Wilber reached on an error by Hesse. With two outs, designated hitter Luke Fennelly walked, to bring up catcher Trevor Johnson. 

Johnson slapped a ball 378 feet the opposite way with runners on at first and second over the right-field wall off starting pitcher Tyler Naumann to give the Mustangs the 3-0 lead. 

In the 5th, left-fielder Gabe Wurtz reached on an error by Runge. Two batters later, Fennelly pulled a line drive over the left-field wall to extend their lead to 5-0. 

Naumann tossed all eight innings for the Voyagers giving up five runs on seven hits while striking out four. 

Once again, the bullpen strung together quality innings to shut out the Voyagers from scoring. In the 7th, right-hander Nate Jenkins tossed one inning giving up no runs on one hit while striking out one. 

In the 8th, left-hander Hunter Schilperoort struck out the side while allowing a one-out triple to center fielder Ryan McCarthy.

It took just eight pitches for right-hander Tyler Statler to pick up his second save in as many ball games, giving up a leadoff single to Hesse, and sending down the next three hitters. 

The Mustangs host game two of the three-game home series at 6:35 p.m. with pre-game coverage at 6:15 p.m. on ESPN 910/105.5 FM or espn910.com. You can also watch every pitch on FloSports.