Sioux Falls, SD – The Sioux Falls Canaries (9-7) prevailed 6-4 in a back-and-forth battle with the Grand Prairie AirHogs (12-4) on Friday night at the Birdcage. The game was played in front of a record crowd of 5,721.

The AirHogs took the lead in the top of the first inning. David Espinosa walked and advanced to second on a walk by Billy Munoz. Edwin Maldonado singled to score Espinosa and Grand Prairie had an early 1-0 lead.

The Canaries tied the game in the bottom of the first. Kennard Bibbs reached on a two-base fielding error by AirHogs left fielder Aaron Garza. Bibbs proceeded to steal third and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Grant Richardson. After an inning the game was tied, 1-1.

The Birds went ahead in the bottom of the third inning. Andrew Barbaro and Grant Richardson got on base with singles, and Will Smith hit his fifth home run of the season to give the Canaries a 4-1 lead.

Grand Prairie would come back and tie the game. In the sixth inning, Espinosa doubled and scored on a double by Drew Holder to make it a 4-2 game. In the seventh inning J.B. Tucker walked and stole second base before scoring on a Brandon Carter single to pull the AirHogs within one, 4-3. Later in the inning a bases loaded walk by Billy Munoz tied things up, 4-4.

The Canaries went ahead to stay in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tim Hutting led off the inning with a single and advanced to second a wild pitch. Andrew Barbaro walked to fill first base and bring Kennard Bibbs to the plate. Bibbs laid down a bunt that was thrown away at third base. Hutting scored on the play to give the Canaries a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning a second error by Edwin Maldonado allowed Barbaro to score and the Canaries went ahead by the 6-4 final.

Mark Roberts (2-0) got the win in relief, Geivy Garcia (1-1) suffered the loss, and Kris Regas pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 20th save of the season.

The Canaries and AirHogs continue the three-game series on Saturday night with Post-Game Fireworks presented by Missouri River Energy.