FARGO, N.D. — Keon Barnum launched his 20th homer of the season, but the Chicago Dogs could not rally past the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, falling 9-8 in a back-and-forth contest on Tuesday night.

The Dogs had the tying run on third base in the eighth and ninth innings, but could not deliver the clutch base knock.

In the third inning, Tony Rosselli led off with a single that hit RedHawks starter Michael Tamburino on the hand, forcing him to exit the game. Rosselli came around to score three batters later when Edwin Arroyo singled off of Michael Hope.

Trey Vavra then singled with two outs to put runners at the corners, setting up Barnum’s league-leading 20th home run of the season to put the Dogs ahead 4-0.

Fargo-Moorhead responded with their own rally in the bottom of the frame. Devan Ahart scored Brennan Metzger with a groundout and Chris Jacobs hit an RBI double to make it 4-2. Correlle Prime then drove in Jacobs in the next at-bat to make bring the RedHawks within one run.

Chicago got a few runs right back in the top of the fourth. After Kelly Dugan and Gustavo Pierre reached, Rosselli singled both runners in to make the score 6-3 Dogs.

The scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth as the RedHawks knocked Dogs starter Jake Dahlberg out of the game in favor of recent signing Luke Wilkins. Yhoxian Medina hit an RBI double, and was singled in off a Colwell single to make it a 6-5 Dogs lead. 

Jacobs’ second RBI double of the night tied the game at six.  The RedHawks took an 8-6 lead when Jacobs scored on an error by Dogs right fielder Victor Roache, and T.J. Bennett drove in Prime on a double.

Prime then doubled down on his scoring with a single to bring Ahart home in the bottom of the sixth, making it 9-6 in favor of the home team.

Vavra scored Rey Gonzalez and David Olmedo-Barrera on a two-RBI single in the top of the seventh to bring the Dogs within one run, 9-8.

In the ninth inning, Chicago got a leadoff single from Arroyo and a one-out base knock from Barnum, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat, and with it, the game.

The Dogs continue their series against the RedHawks on Wednesday night at 7:02 PM. LHP Luke Westphal (9-1) will go to the bump against LHP Tyler Pike (4-2).

Fans can tune in to The Chicago Dogs Baseball Network for a radio feed of all Dogs road games. For more updates, follow @TheChicagoDogs on social media and use the hashtag #TakeABite.