The Moose Jaw Miller Express snapped out of their recent funk with a strong performance across the board on Friday night.

After losing to Edmonton on Thursday, the Millers handed the Prospects a 9-1 loss on Friday at Ross Wells Park to split their doubleheader.

"We had three things go right, we were at least average defensively, at least average offensively and we had a good, at least average pitching effort, and when those three things are together, it gives us a good chance to be successful," said head coach Michael Hunt.

The Millers had lost four straight going into Friday night’s contest, but they got better than average performances to come away with the win.

Starting pitcher Ryder Yakel limited the Prospects to just two hits over seven shutout innings to improve his record to 3-1 this season. He struck out five and walked two.

"I was feeling really good," said Yakel. "Coach Spencer has been helping me a lot with my technique and it's been helping a lot and it showed tonight."

Yakel started strong and had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning. He said he wanted to do his part to ensure that they got back on the winning side.

"It was definitely needed, Coach said that the pitchers at home games really set the tone and that's what I tried to do for us tonight," said Yakel.

Miller Express pitcher Ryder Yakel improved to 3-1 this season with seven shutout innings on Friday night. (Photo: Marc Smith)

While the pitching and defence were on point right from the start, the offence also provided a spark, putting two runs into scoring position in the bottom of the first and Adam Cook coming around to score.

An RBI-single from Brooks Benson in the third made it 2-0 for the Millers and they added another run in the fifth when Alex Hendra-Brown smoked a solo home run.

The Millers really broke the game open over the final three innings as they tacked on two runs in the sixth, both scoring on wild pitches. 

Scott Platt hit an RBI-double to add one run in the seventh and then he came around to score on another wild pitch to make it 7-0 after seven.

In the eighth, Yonelle Firebrace drove in one run and then Ty Lightly came in to score on an error to make it 9-0 for Moose Jaw.

Edmonton rallied a bit in the ninth to score one run, but Blake Gallagher pitched his way out of trouble to strand runners on first and second and seal the win.

Prospects starter Rich Walker was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three.

The Millers are now 10-8 on the year in the Western Major Baseball League. They head to Melville on Saturday night.