Clutch Hits Late Lift Grizzlies to Fifth Straight Win
Published on July 7, 2023 under Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Sauget, IL - The Gateway Grizzlies used some more late magic to win their fifth straight game overall and 11th in their last 13, with Andrew Penner striking a two-run, go-ahead double in the eighth inning to put them ahead to stay in a 4-1 win over the Joliet Slammers at Duly Health and Care Field on Friday night.
Both starting pitchers were outstanding in the contest, and Joliet's Cam Aufderheide blinked first, with Jairus Richards driving a solo home run out to right field for a 1-0 Gateway lead. That would be the only run Aufderheide allowed in seven strong innings for the Slammers, keeping the Grizzlies' league-leading offense down.
Collin Sullivan took that early lead and ran with it, as the all-star right-hander allowed just one baserunner in his first four innings of work, then worked around a leadoff triple for a scoreless fifth. In the sixth inning, the Slammers broke through, as a two-out walk and stolen base set up Matthew Warkentin for a game-tying RBI single, knotting the score at 1-1.
Neither side scored in the seventh, and in the eighth, the Grizzlies got their leadoff man on for the fourth straight inning when Tyler Jay (3-3) hit Alex Hernandez with a pitch. Gabe Holt followed with a single to center field, and Richards sacrificed the lead runs to second and third base. That brought the all-star Penner to the dish, and on the first pitch he saw, he drove the ball to right field, getting it just over the head of Scott Holzwasser to score both runners and give Gateway the lead at 3-1.
Clint Freeman would add a solo home run in the ninth to complete the scoring, but it was not needed, as Alec Whaley (1-1), Brian Eichhorn, and Colton Easterwood combined to retire the last nine batters of the game for Joliet in order, with Easterwood recording his third-straight save and his ninth on the season to lead the Frontier League. With the win, the Grizzlies are now 4-0 this year against the Slammers.
Gateway will look to keep rolling towards the all-star break and look to capture the weekend series on Saturday, July 8, when they face the Slammers in the middle game at Duly Health and Care Field. Carson LaRue will draw the start for the Grizzlies against Joliet's Andrew Dietz, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT.
Frontier League Stories from July 7, 2023
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- Y'alls Fall to Boulders in Series Opener - Florence Y'alls
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