Miners Snap Skid at Windy City
May 27, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (May 26, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners rallied back from a first-inning deficit and Matt Bywater pitched seven strong innings as they topped the Windy City ThunderBolts 4-2 at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood, Ill. to take the first game of a three-game set.
The Miners jumped on top in the top of the first inning, as Niko Vasquez banged a two-out RBI double to score Aaron Gates for a 1-0 lead. Windy City responded, however, with their only two runs of the game, as Coco Johnson led off with a home run and Jacob Tanis hit an RBI single later in the frame to give the ThunderBolts a 2-1 advantage.
Bywater (2-0) would settle down after giving up the two-run burst and five total hits in the first two innings, and the Miners' offense would back him. In the fourth, after Jerrud Sabourin got his first Miners hit in his debut with Southern Illinois, a leadoff single, and Jon Minucci walked, the runners were moved to second and third on a flyout. Sako Chapjian then singled the other way into right field for his first professional hit, scoring Sabourin with the tying run to make it 2-2.
In the fifth, Southern Illinois would take the lead for good. With Michael Earley on first and two outs, Sabourin hit a fly ball to center field that Johnson lost in the lights. The ball dropped between him and right fielder Jonathan Garcia, allowing a hustling Earley to score from first base, with Sabourin reaching second on a double to make it 3-2.
Gates would add a two-out RBI single in the eighth for the final margin. Bywater pitched seven innings and gave up the two runs on five hits, walking four and striking out four as he held the home team hitless in his final five innings of work. Will Rankin also pitched a scoreless ninth, extending his scoreless streak to 30 1/3 innings. Sabourin and Gates both finished with multi-hit games as the Miners won to break a three-game losing streak.
They will go for the series win on Wednesday morning at 10:35 a.m., with Adam Lopez starting against Windy City's Travis Tingle in a matchup of right-handers.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2014 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
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