Matt Provence has broadcast a lot of minor league baseball.

In fact, he’s been doing it for 20 seasons now and has been the IronPigs radio play-by-play guy since their inception, missing just five of their 1,524 games. Even now, there are things that happen that Provence has never seen before, and Friday night he witnessed an entire game like he had never seen before.

“I culled my memory banks and not just 11 years here with the IronPigs, but in 20 years in broadcasting, I can’t remember a game more incredible than that,” said Provence a day after the comeback.

Just the sheer numbers of the game are fascinating. At two different times, Lehigh Valley trailed the Buffalo Bisons by as many as seven runs, including 10-3 in the seventh inning. That the IronPigs came back to win the game 14-13 in 10 innings meant that they matched the franchise record for their largest comeback victory in history, last accomplished in a 9-8 win against Pawtucket in 2015.

The 27 combined runs were the most in Lehigh Valley history, as were the 36 hits. Lehigh Valley hitters collected 18 hits, the second most in franchise history.

Provence admits that he is accused of being a homer at times on the radio, always expecting the Pigs to win no matter what the situation. Even he was giving a radio version of a concession speech when the Pigs were down by seven so late in the game.

When Lehigh Valley cut the lead to 10-6 with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the eighth, Provence’s optimistic baseball mind started to think that it wasn’t out of reach, although still seemed to be long odds. Suddenly, that changed.

“Sometimes I say, ‘We just need this or that,’ but you don’t necessarily believe it. I kind of thought when Dylan Cozens hit the home run [in the bottom of the sixth], that ‘we’re not dead yet.’ Obviously, when (Collin) Cowgill hit the two-run home run and you’re down by two, it became very possible; now you need a bloop and a blast. Cozens got me drinking the Kool-Aid but I wasn’t really drunk on it until Cowgill’s two-run bomb,” admitted Provence.

In the ninth, Provence’s optimism was rewarded when Nick Rickles tied the game on an opposite-field home run to send the game into extra innings. It wasn’t long before he started to look for a white flag when the Bisons put up a three-spot in the top of the 10th inning and had the Pigs up against the wall.

Dean Anna took his spot as the ghost runner at second base in the bottom of the 10th, and one out later, was still there. Then Mitch Walding and Joey Meneses recorded back-to-back singles and it was 13-11. Cozens, who had homered earlier in the game, drew a walk and Zach Green produced a sacrifice fly to make it 13-12 with two outs. Provence was on the edge of his chair hoping against hope for at least one more run. That’s when Bethlehem product Matt McBride hammered a fly ball to center field that defensive whiz Jonathan Davis couldn’t catch up to; pinch-runner Ryan Goins scored and Cozens roared toward the plate with the winning run.

“It’s more of a system of games, because even when we weren’t playing too well, we always got the tying run to the plate in the ninth and we were always scrambling and never folded up the tent,” explained Provence. “With all of these extra-inning games, you just get the mentality that they’re never dead. The stat geeks and the numbers nerds hate that because they can’t put a finger on why that happens, but these veteran guys just don’t give up.

“I thought [Danny] Ortiz might hit for Rickles – silly me – and then Rickles goes the other way with a blast. McBride, a veteran, had struck out his last time. There’s just something about this team you can’t figure out.”

DO WE GET OVERTIME? ... At the time, Friday night’s win gave Lehigh Valley a walk-off win in five of their last six home games, with all of the games being decided in extra innings. They had also played seven extra-inning games in their last 12 games, and five in a row that ended with Friday night’s win.

PIG POWER ... Lehigh Valley leads the league in home runs and currently has five players in the top 10. Joey Meneses (16) is tied for the league lead, with Cozens (14) third, Walding (13) fourth, and Cowgill and Trevor Plouffe (11) tied for eighth.

THE TOP TWO ... Reliever Luis Garcia was with the IronPigs on a rehab assignment from Philadelphia, which meant that the two guys at the top of the franchise list for career saves – Pedro Beato (55) and Garcia (39) - were both in the clubhouse for a few days. Beato passed Garcia earlier this season. Garcia did not travel with the team to Columbus, and will likely be activated from the DL prior to the Phillies first game after the All-Star Break on Friday.