Ten Fisher Cats came to the plate in the first inning on Monday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. Five of those players scored as the Fisher Cats (3-2) jumped out to a big early lead, and then outlasted the Trenton Thunder (2-2) for a 15-7 win.

New Hamsphire’s first inning actually began with the team trailing 1-0 as starting pitcher Ryan Tepera allowed a home run in the top of the inning. It didn’t take long for Tepera’s teammates to answer as Kenny Wilson singled, stole second, and then scored on a base hit by Kevin Pillar to tie the game at 1-1.

The frame continued against Trenton starter Matt Tracy in ugly fashion. Tracy walked Ryan Schimpf before a one-out RBI single by Kevin Nolan put the Fisher Cats into the lead at 2-1. From there, Tracy walked three straight hitters – two with the bases loaded – to bump the lead to 4-1. A pitching change and a ground out made it 5-1 before the inning eventually came to an end.

In the fourth, the Fisher Cats added three more on doubles by Clint Robinson and Brad Glenn. A single by Ryan Schimpf plated John Tolisano to push the lead to 9-1 after five.

The Thunder made a game of it, however briefly, in the sixth, knocking Tepera out with a lead-off homer. They added five more runs in the inning against Randy Boone and Tommy Hottovy to cut a 9-1 deficit to 9-7.

In the eighth, the Fisher Cats put the game away with a six-run rally. Sean Ochinko hit a three-run double with the bases loaded before the Thunder called on outfielder Shane Brown to finish the game. Brown proceeded to allow an RBI groundout followed by four walks and a hit batter to force in two more runs to make it 15-7.

In total the Fisher Cats had 14 hits and drew a team record-tying 13 walks. Every starter scored a run and eight of nine were on base at least two times. Ochinko drove in four runs on the night, the most in a Double-A game. Robinson drove in three with a pair of doubles, a single, and his league-best eighth base on balls. Schimpf drew three walks, as did Glenn. Pillar added a pair of walks while Ricardo Nanita was on base four times.

Tepera earned the win in his season-debut, allowing three earned over five-plus innings. Boone, Hottovy, and Joel Carreno finished the game to improve New Hampshire’s record to 3-2.

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