Ethan Ross Hoses Great Falls
Mustangs take game four against the Great Falls Voyagers with an 8-5 win Friday evening.
Billings is now only three games out of first place in the second-half standings.
Ethan Ross tosses a career-high seven innings giving up just two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts and picks up his second quality start and win of the season.
Blake Evans went 3-4 tonight with a double and two runs scored, while Dylan Leach hit his sixth home run in the month of August and his seventh of the season to lead the way for the Mustangs.
Gabe Wurtz hit team-leading home run number 16.
In the first, Evans hit a one out single while Brendan Ryan singled. Evans scored on a Leach RBI single to lead 1-0.
Ryan eventually scored on a wild pitch to lead 2-0.
Great Falls had a leadoff single by Frank Podkul in the third, and Devin Hurdle tripled him home to make it a 2-1 game.
Jeff Nicol tied the game on a sacrifice fly during the next at bat.
In the bottom of the third, Leach tripled and came home on Wurtz's home run to retake a 4-2 lead.
After giving up the triple to Hurdle, Ross retired 11 of the next 13 men he faced. In the bottom of the sixth, Wyatt Crenshaw singled and came around to score on a wild pitch.
After an Evans double and a walk by Ryan, Leach homered down the left field line to put the game out of reach with an 8-2 score.
Ross worked out of a jam in the sixth and seventh stranding two runners each inning without allowing a run.
Great Falls scored three in the eighth, capped off with a two-run Oscar Serratos Jr home run in the eighth to pull within three.
Jonathan Haab shut the door in the ninth, striking out the side only allowing a one-out double to Freddy Rojas Jr.
The Mustangs hand the rock to Greg Blackman Saturday looking for a series clinching win. Coverage starts at 6:15 p.m. with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. on ESPN910/105.5 FM or espnbillings.com. You can also watch every pitch on FloBaseball.TV.