The Anchorage Bucs defeated the Peninsula Oilers 9-6 on Thursday in Alaska Baseball League action at Mulcahy Field in Anchorage.
With the win, the Bucs took the five-game series 3-2.
The Bucs are on top in the American League with a record of 8-3. Also in the division, the Oilers are 2-3 while the Goldpanners are 0-2.
The Oilers stay in Anchorage to face the Glacier Pilots at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Oilers jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Bucs starter Cody Regina walked Alex Rubanowitz and Jordan Sanford to start the game. Mylz Jones then loaded the bases with an infield single.
Regina then nearly wiggled out of the jam when he struck out Nick Thurman and Josh Rose. But Ethan McGill came through with a double to score three.
But after that, the Oilers pitching staff could not hold down the Bucs’ bats.
The Bucs got to Oilers starter Dan Kolodin for four runs and six hits. Kolodin struck out four, but was hurt by his five walks.
A big turning point came in the fourth inning. The Oilers, clinging to a 3-2 lead, put runners on first and second with nobody out. But Peninsula could not push those runners across the plate.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, Anchorage struck for four runs to take a 6-3 lead. Two of those runs came on a dropped fly ball.
The Bucs would push the lead to 7-3 in the sixth before the Oilers made it 7-4 in the eighth.
But the Bucs got two runs in the bottom of the inning off reliever Jeff Paschke.
The Oilers rallied for a pair of runs in the ninth inning, but it was too late.
Jones was 2 for 5 for the Oilers. For the Bucs, Andy Crowley was 2 for 4 and Dylan Butler also was 2 for 4.
Notes: Oilers utility player Carter Yagi sustained an ankle injury in Wednesday’s game when he crashed into the outfield wall. He will not play for the Oilers for the rest of the season.
