GARY, Ind. — Bear Bay tossed 7.2 stellar innings and a furious Gary SouthShore RailCats rally fell one run short in the ninth as the Winnipeg Goldeyes survived for a 7-6 win Wednesday night at U. S. Steel Yard, evening the best-of-five Northern League Playoff series at one game apiece.

Bay (1-0) did not allow a hit until the fifth and allowed only one run into the eighth, giving his Goldeyes a chance to build a 5-1 lead after seven innings. In the eighth, Bay put two men on and left the game with two outs and Tanner Townsend coming to the plate. Brian Beuning – who did not allow a home run in 82.1 innings and 51 appearances in the regular season – then promptly served up a three-run, line drive home run over the wall in left to bring the RailCats within one.

Fehlandt Lentini gave the Goldeyes some insurance with a two-run single in the top of the ninth, and Winnipeg would need those runs in the bottom of the inning. Beuning walked Steve Haake to lead off the ninth, and two batters later pinch-hitter John McCarthy lined a rocket off Beuning for a base hit. Eric McNamee singled in Haake to close the gap to two, and McCarthy scored when Rob Marconi grounded out. That moved McNamee – the tying run – to second with two outs, but Beuning got Eric Blakeley to fly out to right to end the game and preserve the victory.

Bay was charged with three earned runs on five hits in 7.2 innings, but pitched even better than his numbers, retiring nine straight after walking the first batter of the game. The right-hander walked only two and struck out seven, putting two runners on at the same time only in his eighth and final inning. Beuning earned the save despite a rocky outing, allowing three earned runs on three hits and a walk.

Winnipeg built their lead in the early going with clutch two-out hitting against Jeremy Plexico (0-1). With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Tydus Meadows singled back through the middle to plate two runs and get the Goldeyes started. Then in the third, Chad Ehrnsberger lifted a two-run, two-out, opposite field home run to build the Winnipeg lead to 4-0.

Plexico would retire 10 straight men after a Meadows double in the third, but Dustin Richardson (pictured) led off the seventh with his first home run of the season. Plexico lasted 6.1 innings but allowed five earned runs on seven hits, absorbing the loss.

With the series tied at one, the RailCats must win one of the next two games in Winnipeg to avoid elimination. The series shifts north of the border Friday night at 7 p.m. for Game Three, with Tony Cogan (6-3, 2.08 ERA) pitching for the RailCats against Winnipeg’s Dustin Pease (3-3, 3.16).