A pair of home runs to in-form first baseman Jared Walker has guided the Auckland Tuatara back to the winner's circle with the Kiwi baseball club picking up a 6-3 win over Geelong Korea last night.
After a hardfought series loss against the Adelaide Giants last week, the Tutara returned home to North Harbour Stadium to begin their four-game series against Geelong.
However, their first game of 2020 wasn't off to a positive start when they gave up two early runs through some poor pitching and fielding.
"We got off to a slow start," manager Stephen Mintz said after the game.
“[Starting pitcher] Kyohei Muranaka wasn’t as sharp as we know he can be and we made a couple of uncharacteristic errors."
But Walker showed some true character to get the team rolling, launching a pair of two-run home runs throughout the game before he was robbed of a third when his deep fly ball to centre field bounced off the top of the wall.
The Los Angeles Dodgers prospect finished the evening three-for-three and improved his season batting average to .333 with the display though.
The win sees the Tuatara's season record improve to 13-12 which is good enough to see them remain on top of the Northeast Division.
The Tuatara are back in action against Geelong tonight at 7pm for game two of the series.
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