The Pioneers finally got a full baseball game in after Tuesday night’s game being suspended and a cancelation in Webster Wednesday night. The Pioneers headed to Alfred looking for a big win in the standings against the Thunder. Andrew Foushee in his fourth start of the season brought a 1-0 record into the game along with a 1.23 ERA and 23 strikeouts.

Elmira jumped on Thunder Pitching early as Jake Rickenbach led off the game with his first home run of the season that cleared the left field fence. Elmira would follow with a double by Justin Lamborn and a RBI double from Ryan Ferguson. The Pioneers would add to their early lead one batter later when John Snyder laced a RBI single to right field.

Working with an early 3-0 lead Andrew Foushee kept the Thunder bats silent allowing four hits over four scoreless innings. Alfred scored their first run in the bottom half of the fifth inning after an error by third baseman Matt Ford allowed the runner to score from third.

A one out walk to Mike Cleary in the sixth inning set things up for Elmira with the next batter Brian Erie sending a ball to wall in center scoring Cleary and giving Erie a RBI double. The Pioneers would plate another run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by John Snyder scoring Ryan Ferguson making it a 5-1 ballgame.

On the mound working in the eighth inning Andrew Foushee was cruising until Mike Vanaman hit a RBI single to right field chasing Foushee from the game. With two men on base John Colella entered the game to try and hold the Thunder from rallying late. Colella retired the first batter he faced before allowing back to back RBI singles to make it 5-4 Elmira.

With visions already in their mind from early in the season the Pioneers were not set on letting Alfred rally in the ninth to win. Elmira led off the inning with a single from Ryan Ferguson who would later score on a pitch that got by the catcher. John Snyder then drove in Corey Keller with yet another RBI Single giving Elmira the 7-4 lead.

Colella got the Thunder to hit a high pop fly to Mike Cleary in center field ending the ballgame and giving Elmira their ninth win of the season. Foushee earned the win with the save going to Colella for his fifth of the season. Ryan Ferguson finished the night 4-4 with one RBI and one walk. John Snyder went 2-4 with three RBI and Rickenbach, Keller and Ford finished the night with two hits apiece.

The Pioneers move to 9-6 on the season and will head to Geneva for a 7:00 P.M. first pitch against the Red Wings. The Pioneers will then head to Hornell on Sunday to face the Dodgers before returning home on June 29th to face the Niagara Power. For ticket information or team news visit the Pioneers on the web at www.elmirapioneers.com or call 607-734-2690. This Summer Have Some Fun at Dunn!