Shortstop Donnie Murphy sprinted out of the batter’s box and rounded the first base bag, his eyes focused on the right field wall. As the baseball left the Zephyrs Field, he raised his right hand to the raucous home crowd.

Murphy’s walk-off home run gave the New Orleans Zephyrs a 3-2 win against the Oklahoma City RedHawks in 10 innings Friday night. The win also kept the team’s winning streak alive – now at five games.

Murphy, who is known for having sneaky power in his bat, hit a fastball off Oklahoma City reliever Elizardo Ramirez.

“I hadn’t seen a fastball in a while,” Murphy said. “He gave it to me, and I put a good swing on it.”

The win was even more impressive given that this was the third game the team has played in less than 30 hours. The Zephyrs won both games of a doubleheader Thursday in Portland and had to take a long flight back to town immediately afterwards. The team didn’t arrive at Zephyrs Field until 4 p.m., far later than usual.

“They are professionals,” manager Edwin Rodriguez said. “We were all tired, but these guys showed character. They know they have to perform in front of our fans. The last week to 10 days, the guys are playing hard and it means a lot.”

But before the eighth inning, the Zephyrs looked uninterested. And it was easy to tell with them trailing by two runs. They swung the bats slowly. They walked off the field with their heads down. For most of the game, the team didn’t have much to offer the 8,498 fans at Zephyrs Field.

RedHawks starter Omar Beltre, who throws in the mid-90s, was more than capable of handling the Zephyrs bats. For the first seven innings, the Zephyrs didn’t advance a runner past second base.

“Oklahoma City is a very good team,” Rodriguez said. “We were facing a very good pitching team, and we came out with clutch hitting.”

But when Beltre was replaced by reliever Alexi Ogando in the eighth inning, things started to turn around as Ogando could not find the strike zone.

Center fielder Kevin Mattison and second baseman Javier Guzman started the rally. Mattison singled to start the eighth inning before Guzman walked. That was followed by a walk to first baseman Logan Morrison, which set up designated hitter Hector Luna.

Luna tied the game with a two-run single to right field, plating Mattison and Guzman.

“It seems like we were having a hard time getting those runs in the beginning,” Murphy said. “When he got that base hit, I think it felt like it lifted a lot off our shoulders and got us going.”

What kept the Zephyrs (22-24) in the game was pitcher Brian Lawrence, who was shaky early on. After giving up two solo homers in the first two innings, Lawrence found the strike zone in order to keep the bullpen away through the sixth inning.

“He was outstanding,” Rodriguez said of Lawrence. “He made quality pitches, and I would say that was the game.”

Murphy said he knows wins like this go a long way toward the team’s confidence.

“We had a long day,” he said. “We thought we had a chance. I’m just glad we got a win.”

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