Austin Hendricks Goes 4-4 With Walk Off Hit
photo by MILB
Before many fans sat down Friday night the Lookouts found themselves down 7-0 and it appeared it would be a miserable wait for the Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Slowly the Lookouts flipped the script scoring two in their own half of the second on an Austin Hendrick blast and then again in the third to make it a 7-4 margin.
Hector Rodriguez's rbi ground out in the fourth brought Chattanooga within two runs. His next time up Rodriguez singled and was brought home on an Edwin Arroyo double to make it 7-6. After two quick outs in the seventh inning right fielder Austin Hendrick hit his second homerun of the game to even it up.
Meanwhile Drew Parrish had one of his best outings of the year striking out five in three innings to give the Lookouts a chance to claw back in it. Arij Fransen followed Parrish in the eighth and threw up two zeros of his own to set the stage for a dramatic bottom of the ninth.
Homerun hitter Sal Stewart led off the ninth with hopes of ending it but quickly grounded out to shortstop. Cam Collier followed with a walk. That free pass bumped his on base percentage for the season up to an astounding .455. Jay Allen II struck out but then Barons reliever Tyler Davis issued his second walk of the inning to put the winning run in scoring position. Fittingly, the offensive hero of the evening Austin Hendrick found himself up again and promptly hit a laser into right field to bring home the winning run.
Hendrick was 4-4 on the night with the two homeruns and five runs batted in. Fransen's two scoreless innings credited him with the victory. The two teams are back at it Saturday night at 7:15 with the series finale coming Sunday at 2:15.