Stingers dodge trouble at Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. — The Stingers dug in—fingernails and all —and survived a near disaster in the ninth inning to topple the Fresno Grizzlies 4-2 on Sunday.

Dusty Bergman escaped with his fourth save after Fresno managed to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Salt Lake center fielder Brian Gordon lost Tony Torcato's fly ball in the sun to breathe life into Fresno fading hopes in the bottom of the final inning. Fresno batter Jed Hansen singled and Justin Knoedler walked to juice the bases before Julio Ramirez flied out to Stingers' outfielder Nick Gorneault to end the contest 4-2 in favor of Salt Lake.

Salt Lake managed to control most of the game up until the final half inning.

Luke Allen opened scoring in the ball game by driving in Gorneault to give Salt Lake a 1-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Dustin Moseley got out of a first inning jam by striking Fresno batter Yamid Haad out with runners on second and third. The second inning wasn't as kind to Moseley, as Torcato and Hansen both scored to give Fresno a 2-1 lead.

Salt Lake tied the game up 2-2 in the third inning on a wild throw from third base to home plate that scored Zach Sorensen.

Gorneault gave Salt Lake the lead for good when his solo home run sailed over the center field wall giving the Stingers a 3-2 lead.

Kotchman drove in the final run of the contest when his sacrifice fly scored Sorensen in the top of the seventh making the game 4-2.

Gorneault led the Stingers behind the plate, going 3 for 4 including his solo shot in the sixth inning.

Despite Moseley's shaky first two innings, Moseley handed in six decent innings for the Stingers, allowing only two earned runs on four hits. Moseley also struck out five batters in the process.

Scott Schnieder relieved Moseley in the seventh inning and didn't allow any hits to Fresno in his two innings. Schnieder also struck out three Grizzly batters.

Salt Lake plays the final game of its series at Fresno tonight at 8:05.