Miners Drop Pitcher's Duel in Florence
July 24, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
MARION, ILL. - The Southern Illinois Miners had ace left-hander MATT BYWATER pitch a complete game, allowing just two runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts, but it was not enough as Florence's Jeremy Gooding out-dueled the reigning Pitcher of the Year in a 2-1 loss to the Freedom on Friday night at UC Health Stadium.
All of the runs that were scored in the ballgame came in the first inning. AARON GATES led off with a walk and went to second on a passed ball before back-to-back singles by NIKO VASQUEZ and FRANK MARTINEZ drove him home for a 1-0 Miners lead. Florence struck back on an RBI double by Collins Cuthrell and an RBI triple by Sam Eberle, the latter with two outs, off of Bywater (7-3) to take a 2-1 advantage.
That would be all that both teams would get as the starters clamped down on the opposition from then on out. Gooding (5-2) finished with seven innings of work for Florence, striking out ten and walking two to earn the win. Bywater, meanwhile, was even more dominant after the first frame, not allowing the Freedom offense a single hit after their early rally and permitting only three total baserunners on two walks and an error the rest of the way.
In the ninth, JOE RAPP sent a deep fly ball to left that was caught at the wall, nearly tying the game late, but the Miners dropped the series opener on the road. With his six punchouts, Bywater surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season, marking the fourth time ever that a Miners pitcher has fanned 100 or more in a single campaign. He also became the first Miner ever to do it more than once, as he struck out 114 last season en route to Pitcher of the Year honors.
The Miners will look to even the series on Saturday night at 5:05 p.m.
CT, with ADAM LOPEZ starting on the mound for Southern Illinois.
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