CASPER, Wyo. – The Casper Spuds used a two-run seventh inning to outlast the Oahe Zap 7-5 Friday night in a back-and-forth contest featuring 18 total hits.
Both starting pitchers settled in early as Oahe’s AJ Ponciano struck out the side in the first. The Zap scored first in the second when Emmanuel Ealey came home on Ty Farwell’s groundout, but Casper answered with an RBI single from Gage Dickerson in the third. Oahe briefly reclaimed the lead before Hunter Billingsley tied the game with an RBI single.
Casper began building momentum in the fifth. David Denton’s two-run double sparked a rally before Billingsley doubled and Dickerson followed with an RBI single to give the Spuds a 4-2 lead. Gabriel Cantona cut the deficit to 4-3 with a solo home run in the sixth, but Billingsley answered with another RBI single in the bottom half to make it 5-3.
The Zap rallied in the seventh as Cantona delivered a two-run single and Oahe tied the game 5-5 on an error. Casper answered immediately in the bottom of the inning when Dickerson singled and Cal Cosens lined a go-ahead two-run single to right, putting the Spuds back in front 7-5.
Dickerson led Casper by going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and multiple extra-base hits. Billingsley finished with three hits and two RBIs, Denton drove in two with his fifth-inning double, and Cosens delivered the game-winning two-run single.
The loss drops Oahe to 19-20 on the season. The Zap will look to even the three-game series when they face the Spuds in Game 2 at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Casper.
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