Mustangs rally past Range Riders in slugfest
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 hour, 7 minutes AGO
BILLINGS — A 6-1 start wasn’t enough for the Glacier Range Riders on Tuesday night as the Billings Mustangs rallied for a 20-11 win in the opener of a six-game Pioneer League series.
Glacier (36-36, 7-18 in second half) scored three runs in the first. Brock Vradenburg and Carson Garner each drove in runs, while Jacob Steele added an RBI groundout.
Logan Beard added another run in the second before Steele doubled to score Garner. Joe McLaughlin hit a sacrifice fly to give the Range Riders their biggest lead, but it wouldn't last long.
The Mustangs (50-22,14-11) answered with five runs in the third to tie the game before taking control with 13 runs over the next three innings, including eight in the sixth.
Donovan Ratfield hit his seventh homer of the season in the seventh, which was a grand slam to left field.
Beard went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for Glacier, while AJ Shaver led Billings with four hits and three RBIs.
The series continues Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.
Glacier 312 000 500 - 11 15 3
Billings 105 238 100 - 20 17 1
Jonah Giblin, Cole Cressend (3), Jacob Hasty (4), Davis Pratt (5), William Bartkoski (6), Evan Langston (6) and Donovan Ratfield. Julian Garcia, Davis Hankins (3), Hayden Mullins (6), Alizaeh Gutierrez (7), JJ Almeda (9) and Charlie Muniz.
GLACIER RANGE RIDERS — Kyle Ashworth 2-5, Logan Beard 3-4, Ratfield 1-6, Brock Vradenburg 2-5, Carson Garner 2-5, Jacob Steele 1-4, Brock Tibbitts 0-5, Joe McLaughlin 2-3, Casey Murray 2-4.
BILLINGS MUSTANGS — Cameron Bowen 3-5, AJ Shaver 4-6, Jacob Gutierrez 2-6, Muniz 0-4, Justin Johnson Jr 1-4, Adam Cootway 2-5, Pat Mills 2-5, John McHenry 1-5, Nin Burns II 2-2.
2B — Garner, Steele, Murray. Bowen, Shaver, Gutierrez, Johnson Jr, Cootway. HR — Ratfield (7). RBIs — Ratfield 4, Beard 2, Steele 2, Vradenburg, Garner, McLaughlin. Shaver 3, Mills 3, Cootway 3, Gutierrez 3, Bowen 2, Johnson Jr 2, Burns II 2, Muniz.