The weather gave the Great Bend Bat Cats a perfect Chamber of Commerce evening on a 75-degree night.

But the Salina Shock spoiled the Bat Cats' Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Night celebration with a hard-fought 8-6 Sunflower Collegiate League baseball victory. 

The Bat Cats (4-3) return home Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (7 p.m.) against the Andale Warhawks at Al Burns Field.

Bat Cats hitter Nolan Riley delivered three hits and Luke Repka, Collin Meinert and Daunte Freeman each contributed two hits.

For the second consecutive night, the Bat Cats dug themselves a big hole. Salina roared to a 8-1 lead off Bat Cats starter Conrad Hansel and reliever Will Mossa.

A hit batter, an error and three walks led to a four-run first inning. Bryan Lawrence delivered an RBI single and Cam Wissel and Sam Creed forced home runs on bases-loaded walks. Justin Bailey scored on an error.

Bat Cat Nolan Riley singled home red-hot Luke Repka for a first-inning run. But pitcher Noah Fiehn recorded three outs and worked two more scoreless innings.

Salina's Sam Creed hit a sacrifice fly and Colton Moore added an RBI groundout in a four-run third inning. Bailey and Lawrence followed with RBI singles for an 8-1 lead.  

Chase Gibson ripped an RBI single to score Daunte Freeman, but Fiehn retired Braden Carpenter and Alex Guevera to strand two runners in the fourth inning. Freeman's single scored Riley and Meinert scored on Brady Michel's sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for an 8-4 score.

Repka's triple scored Carpenter after a walk and Riley's single scored Repka for an 8-6 score. But Meinert was retired on a double play to end the sixth-inning rally.  The Bat Cats were scoreless in the final three innings.

Salina Shock 404 000 000 — 8 10 0 

GB Bat Cats 100 122 000 — 6 11 3

Fiehn, Clark (6) and Wissel. Hansel, Mossa (1) and Carpenter. W—Fiehn. L—Hansel. 2B—GB—Repka, Meinert. 2B—GB—Repka.