The Traverse City Beach Bums got a sacrifice fly from Mike Epping in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday night to defeat the Gateway Grizzlies 3-2 and avoid a sweep.
Epping's sac fly scored Kyle Maunus from third. The Beach Bums (37-35) loaded the bases with nobody out against Grizzlies closer Zack Gray (0-2) thanks to a pair of singles and an intentional walk.
Eric Newton led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his third homer of the year to tie the game at two. The homer came off of Grizzlies reliever Joel Boeschen. Boeschen tossed 2.1 innings allowing the run on two hits. He struck out five.
The Grizzlies (38-34) scored both of their runs in the top of the first inning on four hits. Carter McQuigg and Alex Kerins each singled in the inning to drive in runs. Kerins finished 2-3 with the RBI. He had four RBIs in the series.
Justin Lilly started the game and allowed just a run on four hits over 6.2 innings. He walked four and struck out four.