Abilene entered the Friday night series opener after a quick two-game road trip to Fort Smith where the Bison split the games with the Marshals, taking the first one 11-6, but falling in the second 6-4. The Bison hosted the Shadowcats for a four-game set just a week prior where the teams split the series with Abilene taking the first two and Sherman taking the back half.
Landon Fuller got the start for the Bison in the series opener. The right-handed pitcher had a strong performance in his last start which was a week ago against the Shadowcats. The Cisco College pitcher threw for 6.0 innings and allowed only two runs on seven hits.
In the first inning, the Shadowcats would knock in a leadoff single and a perfectly placed double and looked as though the runner would come home. However, a stumble on the turn by the Sherman runner kept him at third where Abilene would keep him to end the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, Logan Baker hit a leadoff single into right field for the first Bison hit of the night. Baker advanced to second off a fielder’s choice but would be left stranded to keep the game scoreless through three.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Tyler Garritano took a walk to get on the bags and Matt Brandt reached first off an error from the Sherman third baseman. Drew Detlefsen would take the second walk of the inning to load up the bases for the Bison. However, the runners wouldn’t move as the third out ended the inning and kept the game scoreless through four.
In the fifth, Jacob Lang would take a walk and Samson Pugh followed him up with a liner infield single to put two runners on with only one away. JD Crisp drew a walk to load the bases for the second straight inning. However, Sherman got one out off a force at home and followed it up with an inning-ending strikeout and for the second straight inning, the Bison would leave the bags full.
Fuller struck out the side in the top half of the sixth and Brandt led off the bottom half of the inning with a single into right. The shortstop then recorded back-to-back stolen bases to get 90 feet from home with zero outs for the Bison. Baker sent one deep enough into centerfield to bring home Brandt and the Bison would take a helpful 1-0 lead late in the game.
Pugh took a hard pitch to the wrist in the bottom of the seventh; the left fielder went on to steal second and then advance to third off a fielder’s choice. Pugh would take a risk on the next pitch, and it would pay off in a big way as he would steal home and make it a 2-0 Bison lead. Junior Maldonado and Garritano recorded back-to-back singles, but Pugh’s stolen run would be the only run of the inning for the Bison.
The Bison closed out the eighth after the Sherman runner tried for extra bases but was gunned down at second for the third out of the inning. Another flawless inning in the ninth would seal the 2-0 victory for the Bison, giving them their first shutout win of the season.
The Bison finished with only six hits on the night, all coming from different batters. Pugh and Brandt both had two stolen bases and Baker had the team’s sole RBI. The three Bison pitchers – which included Fuller, Tanner Riley, and Jared White – combined to allow only six hits and strikeout 11 Shadowcats batters.
The Bison and Shadowcats face off for Game 2 on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Walt Driggers Field, where the Bison will look to take game two and clinch a series victory over Sherman.
