Salt Lake Falls in Late-Inning Thriller against Sugar Land, 7-6

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PCL Salt Lake Bees

Salt Lake Falls in Late-Inning Thriller against Sugar Land, 7-6

May 8, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees dropped a back-and-forth thriller to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys as a two-out ninth inning home run put the Bees down to even the series.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7, Salt Lake Bees 6

WP: Logan VanWey (1 - 1)

LP: Hunter Strickland (1 - 3)

SV: Miguel Castro (5)

Game Summary

After a quick three-up, three-down top of the first, Salt Lake threatened early when Yolmer Sánchez drew a leadoff walk for the second straight night. However, he was caught stealing, and although Niko Kavadas followed with a two-out single up the middle, Tyler Ivey ended the inning by striking out J.D. Davis to strand the runner.

The Bees got on the board in the second with a sacrifice fly from Tucker Flint, scoring Carter Kieboom, who opened the inning with a double. It marked the second night in a row Salt Lake scored their first run via a sac fly.

Starter Jake Eder was sharp early, retiring the first eight Space Cowboys he faced before giving up a two-out double to Quincy Hamilton in the third. Eder responded by striking out the next batter to end the frame, then pitched a clean fourth to keep Sugar Land off the board.

Salt Lake added to its lead in the bottom of the third. Matthew Lugo and Niko Kavadas hit back-to-back doubles, and Kavadas later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Chad Stevens, making it a 3-0 game.

Eder ran into trouble in the fifth, allowing the first two hitters to reach. After a double steal, Quincy Hamilton drove in Tommy Sacco Jr. with a grounder to third, beating the throw home. Jack Dashwood entered with two outs and two on, escaping the jam with a strikeout to keep the damage to one run.

The Space Cowboys' offense came alive late, collecting six of their ten hits and five of their seven runs from the seventh inning on-including three home runs. Zack Short hit a three-run blast, immediately followed by a solo shot from Shay Whitcomb.

Salt Lake answered in the bottom of the eighth. J.D. Davis led off with an infield single, and Carter Kieboom followed by crushing a two-run homer to left, tying the game at six.

In the ninth, Hunter Strickland recorded two quick outs before Jesus Bastidas launched his third hit of the night-a solo home run to put Sugar Land back on top. Miguel Castro retired the Bees in order in the bottom half to close out a thrilling 7-6 win for the Space Cowboys.

Game Notes

Salt Lake dropped the first game of its series, falling to 15-19 on the season. The Bees are now 2-5 in one-run games and 0-2 when tied entering the ninth inning.

Carter Kieboom had a big night, finishing a triple shy of the cycle while going 3-for-4 with his team-leading sixth home run of the season. It marked his second consecutive multi-hit game and fifth three-hit performance of the year. Kieboom now has 10 multi-hit games, all team highs.

Matthew Lugo went 1-for-5 with a run scored and added his team-leading ninth double of the season. He has now doubled in back-to-back games and recorded an extra-base hit in three straight contests. Lugo has reached base in 23 of his last 24 games.

Although hitless, Ryan Noda reached base twice via walks-his sixth multi-walk game of the year. He has reached base via walk or hit-by-pitch in eight of his last 10 games and has scored five runs over his last three.

Niko Kavadas went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, collecting his second straight two-hit game. He has crossed the plate in seven of his last nine contests.

Sebastian Rivero continued his strong stretch, going 2-for-3 with a walk, reaching base three times. He extended his hit streak to four games and has now hit safely in 15 of 17 games played this season.

Starter Jake Eder was sharp, retiring the first eight batters he faced. He tossed a season-high 4.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits and matching a season-best with six strikeouts.

Up Next

The two teams will face off in an even series for game three on Thursday night as Victor Mederos will make his second start with Salt Lake going up against Miguel Ullola for Sugar Land at 6:35 p.m. at The Ballpark at America First Square.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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