Pat O'Sullivan had a homer and two RBIs and Joel Kirsten went seven strong innings as the Cats defeated Pensacola 5-3 on Tuesday night in Pensacola. The win was the Cats' fourth straight victory and second in a row to start the series.
The Cats jumped out to an early lead in the first inning as John Allen and O'Sullivan each contributed RBI singles for a 2-0 Fort Worth lead.
It would stay that way until the seventh, when O'Sullivan belted his fourth home run in the last three games, a solo shot to left as the Cats made it 3-0.
Pensacola narrowed the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh as designated hitter Chase Burch hit a two-run home run to center, his fourth of the season.
Ryan Patterson smacked his third long ball of the season in the eighth inning to make it 4-2, but the Pelicans rallied again to make it 4-3 in the eighth as Marcos Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch.
O'Sullivan scored a run in the top of the ninth inning as he reached on an infield single that took a bad hop and bounced off the face of Pensacola third baseman Dallas Christison. As Christison retrieved the ball, he overthrew the second baseman, allowing O'Sullivan to cross the plate with the Cats' fifth run of the night.
Dustin Cameron recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning to notch his 12th save of the season.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
Kirsten (3-0) earned the win after allowing two runs on just two hits in seven inning of work. He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and the homer by Burch in the seventh was only the second hit he allowed in the game.
Randy Beam took the loss for the Pensacola as he permitted three runs on seven hits in seven innings. His record fell to 2-2.
The Cats (19-6) and Pelicans finish the three-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. with Ryan Riddle taking the hill for the Cats.
