IL1 Buffalo Bisons

Sopko Delivers in 9-2 Star Wars Night Win over Lehigh Valley

Published on June 8, 2019 under International League (IL1)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


One could say The Force was strong with the Bisons Saturday night at Sahlen Field as - for the third straight night - pitching and hitting came together to bring home a Herd victory.

A six-run scoring spree through the first two innings and a five-inning outing of one-run baseball from starter Andrew Sopko was enough for the Herd's 9-2 win in front of 15,242 fans on Star Wars Night XII. Coming off the momentum from Friday night's 3-1 victory over the IronPigs to open the series, the Bisons carried the hot bats over to start the game to support Sopko in his first win as a Bison.

After Jonathan Davis gave IronPigs starter Tyler Viza fits with a 10-pitch ground-out at-bat to start the night, Socrates Brito started the spark with a single to left. Two pitches later, Anthony Alford continued his hot season with an RBI double for the 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, Patrick Kivlehan blasted another double off the right-field wall to bring home Alford. Richard Urena capped off the inning in the next at-bat with an RBI single to center for the 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, the outfield walls continued to be the Bisons' best friends.

Following a walk to Jordan Patterson and Davis' double off the left-field wall, Brito connected off the right-field wall for the two-run double. Kivlehan continued with a single to the outfield grass, working a 2-2 count for the 6-1 lead and ending Viza's night with just 1.2 innings of work.

With the early string of runs behind him, Sopko did enough in his sixth start of his Bison career to secure the victory. The Montana native retired five of his first seven batters, including a nice doubleplay ball in the first inning around the horn, before Damek Tomscha hit his first of two solo home runs of the night (also in the ninth inning off Corey Copping).

The third inning was his best frame as he struck out Malquin Canelo and drew pop flies to Adams and Rob Brantly on 10 pitches. The IronPigs provided pressure in the fourth inning with a double from Jan Hernandez and a walk from Mitch Walding but the two runners on the corner were left stranded after Tomscha flied out to McKinney.

After a quick 1-2-3 in the fifth, Sopko couldn't finish the sixth inning as he was relieved after allowing a pair of singles. Along with the run, Sopko recorded four strikeouts, allowed five hits and walked two batters on 89 pitches (47 strikes).

Then, Zach Jackson came in relief and stranded those two runners and an additional two runners in the seventh inning to keep the IronPigs at bay, allowing one hit and earning a strike-out as a result. Despite the home run in the ninth, Copping stayed strong to finish his two inning night with a strikeout.

The Bisnos added three more runs in the eighth inning, the first of which came compliments of Andy Burns' second home run in as many days.

BISONS NOTES: Dating back to their vctory against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Friday night, the Bisons have now won three consecutive games, their longest winning streak since winning four straight against Pawtucket from April 29 to May 2.... Since the event began in 2008, the Bisons are now 7-5 all-time on Star Wars Night.... With his RBI double in the first, Alford still leads the team with 24 in the category... The Herd wraps up their week-long homestand against the Iron Pigs Sunday afternoon at 1:05 PM. In the Kids Club Day matchup, Ryan Feierabend looks for his fourth win of the season for Buffalo when he deals against Lehigh Valley's Cole Irwin.

Check out the Buffalo Bisons Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from June 8, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central