GARY, Ind. — The Gary SouthShore RailCats, after trailing 3-0 early, chipped away against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and got a come-from-behind 5-4 victory Thursday afternoon to take two of three from their archrival at U. S. Steel Yard.

The RedHawks got up early on RailCat starter Tony Cogan with three doubles in the first inning, scoring two runs. Fargo amassed three more singles in the top of the second, plating another run to go up 3-0. However, the RailCats answered in the bottom of the second, putting the first two men on with a single and a Zach Penprase error. Jeff Beachum, in his first at-bat since June 26, looped an RBI single into right field to score Mike Rohde, getting Gary on the board. Eric McNamee followed with a one-out RBI sacrifice fly to score Brett Wallace. Both runs went unearned against Fargo starter Scott Fogelson.

No more runs were be scored until the sixth when Jeremiah Piepkorn drove a solo homerun to left field off of Cogan to extend the Fargo lead to 4-2. But once again, the RailCats would respond in the bottom half, putting Steve Haake on base to lead off the inning. On a Jordan Czarniecki ground ball, RedHawk third baseman Piepkorn failed to backhand the ball, committing the second Fargo error, allowing Haake to reach third base. Fogelson exited the game and T.J. Stanton would come in. Cristian Guerrero was able to put a grounder into play, scoring Haake to make it a 4-3 game. Fogelson departed giving up three runs, none of them earned.

Cogan was pulled after seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. Eddie De La Cruz pitched a perfect top of the eighth and in the bottom half, the RailCats find the equalizer against reliever Mike Finocchi. Rohde reached base on the third RedHawk error, then stole second. After a Wallace pop-out, Mike Massaro came in to pinch-hit for Beachum. Massaro delivered a line drive double down the third base line to score Rohde and tie the game. Andy Shipman (2-2) settled in to pitch a drama-filled top half of the ninth, putting runners at the corners on a walk and an error with one out. Shipman would get Scott Koerber to ground into an inning-ending double play and give the RailCats a shot in the bottom of the ninth.

McNamee led off the RailCat ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Jay Pecci. After Finocchi intentionally walked Haake, he would then walk Czarniecki to load the bases. Finocchi struck out Guerrero for a huge second out, but his first pitch to Rohde would be grounded back up the middle. Penprase dove and gloved it, but could not make a play as McNamee crossed the plate to complete the comeback and give the RailCats the 5-4 victory.

The RailCats (22-22) have won five of six on their nine-game homestand and with the series win, move back to .500 for the first time since May 26 when they were 6-6.

The RailCats wind down the first half of the season this weekend with a three-game series against the league-leading Winnipeg Goldeyes (27-13). Friday night at 7 p.m., the RailCats will give away Camouflage RailCats hats to the first 1,000 fans courtesy the U.S. Army, and don’t miss the first of back-to-back post-game fireworks shows to celebrate the holiday weekend. Tickets are available by calling 219.882.2255 or visiting the U. S. Steel Yard Box Office.

Veteran Onan Masaoka (1-4, 5.44 ERA) will make the start Friday night for the RailCats against Winnipeg righty Bear Bay (4-1, 3.52 ERA).  The game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Notes: The series win is only the fourth all-time against the RedHawks in regular season play…Massaro’s double was the first base hit by a RailCat pinch hitter in four at-bats this season…RedHawk designated hitter Randall Simon left the game in the sixth inning with an injury…2009 All-Stars De La Cruz and Shipman have combined for 35 innings with just two earned runs given up this year…Fargo’s defense committed 8 errors in the series…Rohde is now 8 for his last 21 after being mired in a 1-24 slump…The RailCats had 2,250 in attendance for their Thursday afternoon tilt, leaving them just 2,301 fans shy of reaching the one million fan mark at U. S. Steel Yard.