Fargo, ND – The Jamestown Miller Lite Merchants came away with a walk-off victory over the Moorhead Brewers Wednesday night at No Name Field.

The Merchants held three different one run leads throughout the game. The scoring started in the first when Tony Viger doubled home Dakotah Kirchenwitz to give the Merchants a 1-0 lead.

After the Brewers tied things up in the second off starter Sam Hirchert, Anthony Fontana singled home Jared “J-Rod” Purdy in the fourth inning to put the M’s back up.

The Brewers would again tie things up in the fifth, however, the Merchants answered right back in the sixth when Bryan Erstad singled home Kirchenwitz for one of his three hits on the day.

Hirchert battled all night for the M’s on the mound throwing all nine innings.

“All I need was two Beast’s and five Advil’s and I was ready to go on the mound tonight,” stated Sam as he enjoyed his first victory against the Brewers since 2013.

Sam battled through some early inning walks but was lights out from the sixth inning on.

After retiring the first two Brewers in the ninth, Sam and the Merchants were one out away from ending the game. However, a two-out triple followed by an RBI-single tied the game up at three.

In the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Hill led off with a walk. The next two batters moved Hill to third and allowed Kirchenwitz to deliver a walk-off single to right field to give the M’s a 4-3 victory.

“I was just looking to drive the ball hard and score the run, all the extra tee work at the Horace cage has really paid off for me this season,” said Kirchenwitz as he sipped on a lemonade after the game.

Every Merchant starter had a hit as the M’s pounded out 16 hits in all.

Sam moves to (4-0) on the year, he also collected nine strike outs on the mound.

The Miller Lite Merchants (13-3) look to win their third straight Dale “Gopher” Lien Memorial Baseball Tournament sponsored by Shady’s Bar this weekend.

Dale “Gopher” Lien Memorial Baseball Tournament Schedule

Saturday - July 8th

11:00 am – Elks vs. Cass County Catfish
1:15 pm – Cass County Catfish vs. Merchants
3:30 pm – Mayville vs. Merchants
5:45 pm – Elks vs. Mayville

Sunday – July 9th

11:00 am – Catfish vs. Mayville

1:15 pm – Elks vs. Merchants