Bisons Win In Dramatic Fashion

"It's amazing how many times in baseball the pitcher gets the first two guys out, and the very next guy goes 2-0," said Gary Allenson post game, and that's exactly how the Bisons' improbable ninth inning started. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Bisons strung together three walks and a pair of singles to bring catcher Sean Ochinko to the plate in a 4-3 game with the bases loaded. The previously hit-less Ochinko jumped on a first pitch fastball and drove it down the left field line to easily plate both the tying and go ahead runs. The four run final frame gave the Bisons a 5-4 win marking their sixth straight victory.

After getting sensational work from the bullpen the past few days, the offense had to pick up some slack with Preston Guilmet, Gregory Infante, and Bobby Korecky each giving up a run in relief. Austin Bibens-Dirkx started sharp throwing all of his pitches around the zone. He struck five of the first six he faced, and then perhaps fell too much in love with the strikeout. In the third inning Bibens-Dirkx started to nibble at the corners and ended up loading the bases with a few walks. Fortunately in his first start of the season he was able to regain his aggressiveness and allowed just one run over five strong innings.

The play of the day was made by Jonathan Diaz who has seen more time of late with Ryan Goins up north. With men on second and third and one out the infield was playing in for the Herd. A sharp ground ball that would have been routine had the defense been playing straight up, turned into an extraordinary stop made by Diaz lunging to his left, and then firing a strike home to get the runner. Clearly this play had a huge impact on the result as it took a walk off to finish the home stand off right.

The Bisons are now headed off for a week long road trip starting with three games at Pawtucket. Andrew Albers will be on the mound in game one as the Herd look to extend their winning streak to seven games.