Grand Prairie, TX – The Sioux Falls Canaries (21-25) rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to pull ahead 7-4 and defeat the Grand Prairie AirHogs (21-25) by the same score on Friday night at QuikTrip Park. Canaries shortstop Tim Hutting drove in three runs for the Birds in the victory.

Grand Prairie took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Carter doubled and stole third base before scoring on a double by Cesar Nicolas. Nicolas’ 41st RBI of the 2009 season gave the AirHogs an early 1-0 lead.

The Canaries took the lead in the top of the second. Following a single by Kyle Eveland and a double by Ken Lup, the bases were loaded when Jared Lemieux was hit by a pitch. With one out, Joe Anthonsen hit a ground ball to the shortstop. Anthonsen’s speed allowed the Canaries to stay out of a double play, and allow Eveland to score and tie the game, 1-1. Cory Harris followed at the plate with a single to shallow right field. The single by Harris extended his consecutive games on-base streak to 39 games, and scored Lup to give the Canaries a 2-1 advantage.

Grand Prairie tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Chad Gabriel opened the inning with a single. Ron Fenwick advanced Gabriel to third on a one-out base knock, and a sacrifice fly by Drew Holder brought home Gabriel to tie the game, 2-2.

The teams traded runs in the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, Lup walked and scored on a single by Hutting to give the Canaries a 3-2 lead. The AirHogs tied the game when Cesar Nicolas hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth. After five innings, the score was tied, 3-3.

Grand Prairie went ahead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Drew Holder hit his second home run of the season to give the AirHogs a 4-3 lead.

The Canaries roared back in the eighth. Trevor Lawhorn walked and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Patrick Reilly. Lawhorn scored on a double by J.D. Reininger to tie the game, 4-4. A single by Eveland and a walk to Lup loaded the bases for Jared Lemieux. Lemieux grounded out to the first baseman, but Reininger was able to score on the play, giving the Canaries the lead, 5-4. The AirHogs brought in former Canaries pitcher Pat Mahomes to try and stop the bleeding. Tim Hutting singled off Mahomes to score Eveland and Lup and extend the Birds lead to three, 7-4.

Jino Gonzalez received no decision in pitching 6.2 innings and giving up four runs on nine scattered hits. Andrew Pluta (1-0) picked up the first professional win of his career in relief. Patrick Lawler struck out the side in the eighth to set-up Kris Regas who pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 15th save of the season.