Fargo, ND – On a chilly Wednesday night at Helling Field, Sam Hirchert led the Merchants to a 7-3 victory over the FM Gators.

Hirchert tossed six scoreless innings on the mound for Merchants to collect his first win of the season. “My arm took a couple innings to loosen up in the cold weather but once it did those Gators didn’t stand a chance,” commented Sam as he downed a Beast in the parking lot.

The M’s were led at the plate by Anthony Fontana who continued his hot hitting with another multi-hit game. “I contribute my hot start at the plate to the countless amount of free Beast that Bstad brings us, I really appreciate it,” stated Fontana as he spoke with Merchant beat reporter Catherine Ross.

Bryan Erstad also had two hits for the Merchants who had nine hits total for the night.

The M’s will travel to the Angels Amateur Tournament in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota this weekend. The first game of the weekend is scheduled for 6:30 PM Friday night against the Staples Lumberbats.

NOTES: The Merchants say good-bye to Joe Demers and Brady Anderson for the summer as they head off to play in their respective collegiate summer leagues. We wish them the best of luck.