Comeback Comes up Short as Miners Lose to Rascals
May 20, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind 8-1 against the River City Rascals on Sunday night at Rent One Park, then scored four unanswered runs to make it an 8-5 ballgame in the sixth, but could not creep close in the late innings in dropping the rubber match of the weekend series by a final score of 9-5.
Miners starter Billy Griffin (0-2) and Rascals righty Scott Grist (2-0) kept things nearly perfect through the first three innings, with just three total baserunners between the two clubs. That changed in the fourth inning, as the Rascals were able to plate four runs, two of which coming on back-to-back two-out errors to make it a 4-0 game. Southern Illinois got a run back on a Romeo Cortina sacrifice fly to make the score 4-1, but the Rascals scored four more times against the bullpen in the top of the fifth to push their lead out to 8-1.
The Miners' offense would keep coming against Grist, as John Holland's RBI single in the fifth made it 8-2, and with two men aboard in the sixth, Grist's final pitch was crushed by Joe Dudek over the straightaway center field wall for a three-run homer to cut the deficit to 8-5. But Southern Illinois would get no closer, as River City got a run back in the top of the seventh for the eventual final margin, then permitted just one baserunner in the final three innings to seal the series victory.
Chance Shepard finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Dudek hit his second homer of the season and drove in three runs and Cortina ended up 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, but it was not enough as the Miners dropped their second in a row and fell to 4-5 on the young 2018 season.
After two days off on Monday and Tuesday, Southern Illinois next travels to western Pennsylvania to take on the Washington Wild Things in a doubleheader on Wednesday night at 5:05 p.m., with the starters for both teams yet to be determined.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's winningest franchise since debuting in 2007, winning the 2012 Frontier League Championship as well as division titles in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016. 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 their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the box office at (618) 998-8499. For additional information, visit our website at www.siminers.com.
Frontier League Stories from May 20, 2018
- Comeback Comes up Short as Miners Lose to Rascals - Southern Illinois Miners
- Rascals Earn Series Win over Miners - River City Rascals
- Florence Splits Sunday Twin Bill with Gateway - Florence Y'alls
- Otters Take Rubber Game 5-4 against CornBelters - Evansville Otters
- Grizzlies Split Tightly Contested Twinbill - Gateway Grizzlies
- Wild Things and Crushers Split Sunday Doubleheader - Washington Wild Things
- Lake Erie Crushers Split Double Header - Lake Erie Crushers
- Bums Come Back But Fall in Tenth - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Boomers Walk off in Extras - Schaumburg Boomers
- Joliet's Walk-Off Homer Knocks out Bolts - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Slammers Walk off vs Windy City Sunday Afternoon - Joliet Slammers
- CornBelters Split Doubleheader at Evansville - Normal CornBelters
- Rascals Split Doubleheader with Miners - River City Rascals
- Otters Split Doubleheader against CornBelters - Evansville Otters
- Miners Score Walk-Off Win in Doubleheader Split - Southern Illinois Miners
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
