Halton Drives in Six to Pace ‘Stormers Win

Right Fielder Collects Grand Slam, Two Sac Flies

 Sean Halton came up with a baseball rarity at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas Friday evening.

The Lancaster right fielder drove in six runs with only one hit to lead the visiting Barnstormers to a 9-3 victory over the host Sugar Land Skeeters in the second game of a four-game weekend series between the division rivals.

With the win, the Barnstormers pulled to within one game of the Skeeters for the top spot in the division.

Halton produced the game’s first run, delivering Jeff Kobernus with a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the first.  One inning later, after Caleb Gindl drew a bases loaded walk to add a second Lancaster run, Halton crushed a 2-0 offering from Michael Nix (1-4) well over the wall in left center for his second grand slam of the season.

The Lancaster home run leader capped off his big night with a sacrifice fly in the ninth, this time scoring Gindl.

Lancaster’s only other offense came on an opposite field, two-run homer by Trayvon Robinson in the eighth that ended a five-inning run scoring drought for the ‘Stormers offense.

Elih Villanueva (2-1) allowed home runs to Chris Nelson in the second and Andy Wilkins in the third but never jeopardized the lead.  Following the Wilkins homer, the Barnstormers’ right-hander retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced before turning the game over to the relief corps.  Villanueva yielded five hits and one walk on the night while striking out six.

Kevin Munson, John Anderson and Anthony Carter each worked a scoreless inning to pin the game down for Lancaster.

The third game of the series is scheduled for 6:05 CDT on Saturday.  Jarret Leverett (0-0) makes the start for Lancaster against right-hander Brett Marshall (3-0).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, beginning at 6:45 EDT.

NOTES:  Kevin Ahrens’ streak of games with an RBI ended at eight…Kobernus returned to action after a nearly three-week layoff and went 3-for-5, including a ground rule double on his first AB…Gindl went hitless for the first time since a day game on April 27 in a game where he played the entire contest…Blake Gailen stole two bases and is now second on the club with five…He has 71 as a Barnstormer, four behind second place Michael Woods.