SPOKANE, WA – The Spokane Indians (18-20) accomplished one of the rarest feats in baseball, turning a triple play tonight in a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (21-17) in front of a sold out crowd of 7,321 at Avista Stadium. The comeback win was the 10th such victory for the Indians who won in the bottom of the 10th inning for the second consecutive night.

After the Volcanoes got three runs in the top half of the sixth inning off a David Maroul homerun and a Jose Yens single, they threatened again with runners at the corners and still nobody out. After Nate Fogle replaced starter David Smith, the Indians quickly got out of the jam by turning the amazing feat. Fogle struck out Andy Busch swinging and catcher Ben Crabtree threw Yens out at second base. Meanwhile, Mark Minicozzi attempted to steal home on the throw to second base, but David Peterson gunned Minicozzi at the plate for the unorthodox 1-2-4-2 triple play.

The three runs in the 6th for S-K gave them a 4-3 lead, but the Indians once again battled back like they have nine other times this season. In the bottom of the 6th the Indians got one run back as Phillip Hawke belted his second homerun of the game to tie it up. Hawke now has four homeruns on the season, the seventh highest total in the Northwest League. The Indians now have five of the top seven homerun hitters in the league with left fielder Steve Murphy leading the circuit with eight.

The score would remain knotted until the 10th inning when the Indians got the game winning run off of Buck Cody (0-1) when none other than Hawke delivered. Hawke, who finished 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, slapped a base hit to left field to score Joe Kemp with the winning run. Kemp, who pinch ran for Lizahio Baez, raced around the bases and slid under the tag at the plate to give the Indians the win.

Tanner McElroy (1-0) got the win for the Indians, holding the Volcanoes bats silent over the course of the final three innings. The former Texas Tech Red Raider held S-K to just one base hit while striking out four batters. The win puts the Indians in a three-way tie for first place in the Eastern Division with the Boise Hawks and Tri-City Dust Devils. For a complete box score, click here.

The triple-play by Spokane was the second triple-play turned in the Northwest League this season. On July 6 in Boise, the Hawks turned a more traditional trifecta against the Everett AquaSox. The Hawks triple-play was very similar to most triple-plays turned in baseball where two runners on base were tagged out when a hard line drive was caught by a defensive player. To see video of the Indians triple play courtesy of KXLY News 4, click here.