Turns out, he’s just as effective on the mound.
Borst tossed six innings, giving up two runs on five hits as the Express picked up a 10-2 win over the Regina Red Sox at Ross Wells Park on Saturday night, snapping a four-game losing skid and improving to 5-5 on the season.
“Michael took care of it for us tonight, it was really good to see him on the bump,” said Express coach Rich Sorenson. “That was the first time he’s pitched in I don’t know how long, he went six innings for us and wanted to stay in more. So he did a great job for us.”
All four pitchers on the night showed an impressive level of control, surrendering only three walks in total against eight strike-outs. That’s a far cry from recent outings, where walks and hit batters have led to big innings for the opposition.
Michael Ross took over in the seventh, giving up a single hit. Jaden Hofmann surrendered two hits and struck out a pair in the eighth, and Jack Gamba closed out the contest giving up two hits while striking out one and walking one.
“I think if we can hold teams to five, with our offence I think we’re in really good shape,” Sorenson said. “You look at it tonight, they got 10 hits, but we limited the walks. That’s the key. Make them earn it, but freebies, that’s when you get in trouble… that’s where the scores get up there. But you scatter 10 hits and give up two runs, we can do that all day long.”
The Express trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, where they sent three runs across the plate before scoring another five in the fifth for a 9-2 lead. They tacked on one more in the seventh to close out scoring in the contest.
The top of the order did most of the damage in the game, with lead-off hitter Eric Marriott going 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two-hitter Blake Gallagher 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and Borst 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Chris Warken and Geordie McDougall each crossed the plate twice while Alex Orenczuk went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
The Express are back in action Tuesday when they kick off a three-games-in-three-nights set with the Okotoks Dawgs (7 p.m., Ross Wells all three nights).
