Mustangs KO'ed in One Round

The Billings Mustangs fall victim to their third knockout round in the span of a week and fall to the Voyagers 8-7.

The Voyagers picked up a 6-0 lead through four innings as Pat Maybach dealt a season-high five of his six walks in the first four innings. From there, Maybach settled in, retiring six of his last seven hitters. 

The Mustangs rallied in the sixth, sending 12 men to the dish. Gabe Wurtz got hit by a pitch from starting right-hander Greg Blackman. With two outs, Mitch Moralez walked and Blake Evans picked up a two-run single to make it 6-2. Brendan Ryan walked to bring up Taylor Lomack, and new arm from the bullpen Bobby Vath - who could not record an out. 

Lomack greeted Vath with a two-run double. Connor Denning walked, and Alejandro Figueredo capped off the two-out rally with a 426-foot blast to center field to give the Mustangs a 7-6 lead. 

McLain Harris relieved Maybach in the sixth with two outs, and gave up a game tying RBI single to Ryan Peltier as Harris tosses one-and-a-third giving up just the run on three hits and a walk. 

Wurtz made a fantastic play with right-hander Nate Jenkins on the mound. After Jenkins surrendered a leadoff double to Charlie Hesse, Xane Washington popped up a bunt. Wurtz slid in from his spot at first and whipped the ball to second to send both runners down, and Jenkins answered with a strikeout on Billy Hancock. 

Hunter Schilperoort gave up a one out single to Jaylyn Williams, but sent the Voyagers down quietly for the second straight night - this time he picked up a pair of punchouts. 

The Mustangs opted for Mitch Moralez to be the opening round knockout batter. He put four balls over the left-field wall, but all of them were foul. 

Anthony Herron Jr. sent a two-out line drive over the center-field wall to give the Voyagers the lead and sole possession of second place in the North Division second-half standings. 

The Mustangs try to salvage the three-game series in Great Falls at 7:00 p.m. Thursday with pregame coverage starting at 6:40 p.m. on ESPN 910/105.5 KBLG or ESPN910.com. You can also watch every pitch on FloSports.