Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

BURLINGTON — Nick Ward was 2-for-3 with two walks and got a Vermont six-run, sixth inning rally started with a three-run homer to lead the Lake Monsters to a come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the Connecticut Tigers Wednesday night at historic Centennial Field.

The Lake Monsters trailed 4-0 before scoring the six runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. After back-to-back strikeouts with two runners on, Ward drilled a three-run homer off Tigers reliever Matt Walker to right field to cut the Vermont deficit to 4-3.

Vermont then loaded the bases against Walker and Jake Baker on three straight walks, tied the game on Baker wild pitch and Jordan Diaz lined a two-run double to right giving the Lake Monsters the 6-4 advantage.

2019 second-round pick Tyler Baum out of the University of North Carolina retired all six Connecticut batters he faced in his professional debut, retiring the Tigers 1-2-3 with a strikeout in each of the first two innings of the game. Logan Davidson, Oakland’s 2019 first-round pick out of Clemson University, also made his pro debut and went 0-for-3 with two walks.

After Baum’s two scoreless frames, Gresuan Silverio greeted Vermont reliever Carlos Sanchez with a leadoff home run in the third inning for the game’s first run before Tigers added three more runs (just one earned) in the top of the sixth to build the 4-0 lead.

Austin Briggs (1-0) was charged with the three runs (one earned) in the sixth, but earned the victory with two strikeouts over his two innngs, while Jose Mora four strikeouts over two scoreless innings for his second save. Connecticut starter Carson Lance tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts, while Walker (0-1) took the loss.

Vermont (6-6) and Connecticut (4-8) wrap up the three-game series at 7:05 pm on Thursday before the homestand continues with another three-game set against the Staten Island Yankees this weekend.