Pippins Offense Struggled for the Second Straight Night in 9-0 Loss to Falcons

The Pippins offense struggled for the second night in Kelowna, dropping game two to the Falcons 9-0.

Cullen Kafka got the start for the Pippins and ran into trouble in the first inning. After a leadoff single and a walk, Taylor Wright grounded into a double play leaving a runner at third with two outs. The Falcons then rattled off three straight hits with two outs including RBI singles from Trent Tinglestad and Dylan Orick. Kafka got Garrett Kelly to ground out, limiting the damage to two runs.

The Falcons added another run in the second inning. After two quick outs, Kafka yielded a walk and a base hit, leading to an RBI single from Wright. In the fifth inning with two outs and runners at the corners, Kelly smacked an RBI single, extending the lead to 4-0.

Falcons starter Trevor Brigden was able to weave in and out of trouble and had the Pippins number all evening. Through his six scoreless innings, the Pippins left a runner on base every inning and left a total of nine men on, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Falcons knocked Kafka out of the game. After two quick outs, Drew Williams kept the inning alive with a single. Kaleb Strawn would relieve Kafka and yield four straight base runners including an RBI ground-rule double from Tinglestad and a hit by pitch to Dylan Orick with the bases loaded. Strawn struck out Kelly for the final out of the inning.

The Falcons bullpen took over for Brigden in the seventh and three relievers would combine to throw three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit along the way.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, with a runner on and one out, Tinglestad launched a two run home run over the right field wall off of Matt Driver, extending the lead to 8-0. The Falcons grabbed another run in the inning when Kelly hit a single with runners on the corners. Driver would later strand the bases loaded.

Cal Hehnke threw a scoreless ninth, sealing a 9-0 loss for the Pippins. The Pippins will try to salvage the final game in the series on Sunday. First pitch at 6:05.

By Kevin Vallene

June 24, 2018