In a back and forth affair the Calgary Vipers defeated the Schaumburg Flyers 11-9 at Alexian Field in Schaumburg, Illinois. With the victory the Vipers drop their magic number to one, meaning either a win in their final two games or a loss by Winnipeg in either of their final two games will clinch Calgary the North Division pennant and a playoff spot. Duncan and Nichols had big nights at the plate with Duncan going four for six with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Whereas Nichols went three for five with a run scored and four driven in.

 

Calgary jumped on the scoreboard right away in the first inning with Darryl Brinkley reaching on an error by shortstop Sandy Almonte. Carlos Duncan followed with a single to move Brinkley to third and Kyle Nichols and Nelson Castro both followed with two out RBI singles to give the Vipers a 2-0 lead.

 

In the bottom of the inning Mike Rohde hit his first homerun of the season to cut the lead in half.

 

The Flyers took the lead in the third inning with Alex Derhak and Demetrius Heath singling. Christian Snavely knocked Derhak in with a base hit and moved Heath to third for Pat O'Sullivan who hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-2.

 

That lead was taken back in the fifth inning with the top of the order doing the damage once again. Brinkley singled and was followed by Drew Miller who reached on a sacrifice bunt and error by Rohde. Duncan plated Brinkley with a single and Nichols added his second RBI of the night bringing in Miller with a base knock.

 

An inning later in the sixth Manabu Kuramochi reached on a bunt single and Duncan hit his fifth homerun of the season to give the Snakes a 6-3 lead. Nichols made it back to back homeruns crushing his ninth of the season to make the score 7-3.

 

Schaumburg started their comeback in the bottom of the inning with O'Sullivan walking and Dario Delgado singling. After the runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, Sandy Almonte followed with a clutch two out single to close the lead to 7-5.

 

Another run was added in the seventh when Rohde singled and scored on a O'Sullivan double to make it a one run ballgame at 7-6.

 

Calgary retook a three run lead in the eighth with another Kuramochi leadoff single. He then stole second base and Brinkley drove him home with a single. Brinkley though had to leave the game with a leg injury and was replaced by Jorge Tang. After another Duncan single to move Tang to third, Nichols hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-6.

 

The Flyers did not go down without a fight as they tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. After a Kyle Leon homerun, Almonte walked and stole second. Heath drove him home, stole second, and was plated by a Rohde base hit to tie the game 9-9.

 

Back and forth the game continued in the top of the ninth when the Snakes took their third lead of the game. With one out Kevin Price singled to start the inning, Mitch Evans made it first and second when he reached on a error by third baseman Delgado. Kuramochi loaded the bases with a great at bat for a walk and in his first at bat of the game Tang was hit by a pitch to bring in the go ahead run. Miller followed by getting hit for a league leading 14th time to give Calgary a two run lead at 11-9.

 

Jordy Alexander on only three days rest gave the Vipers a solid start going five and a third innings allowing three earned runs. Geoff Freeborn picked up his fifth win of the season with a strikeout to end the eighth inning. Randy Waite came in and got the final three outs in the game for his third save of the season.