Gates' Late Hit Gives Miners Series Win in Florence
July 27, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (July 26, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners faced off in yet another close ballgame against the Florence Freedom in a rubber match on Sunday evening, and for the second straight night, the Miners came out on top, this time on an eighth-inning RBI single by Aaron Gates to win 2-1 and capture their franchise-record 11th consecutive road series by taking the series' final two games. They have now won 16 of their last 17 series away from Rent One Park dating back to July of 2014.
Neither team got much going offensively in the opening three frames, with Jarett Miller snuffing out a Florence burst in the second with two strikeouts and Florence righty Coleman Stephens retiring the first nine Miners he faced. In the fourth, the Miners took advantage of two Freedom errors and scored a run without a hit on an RBI groundout by Frank Martinez that deflected off Stephens to shortstop.
Leading 1-0, however, the Miners also committed an error in the bottom half that led to a Florence run when with runners at first and third, Justin Harris laid a sacrifice bunt down that Miller, after checking the runner at third, threw high to first base, tying the game at 1-1.
Both teams would attempt rallies in the middle innings, with the Miners loading the bases with two outs in the sixth before a flyout ended that rally. After Miller and Ryan Brockett pitched Southern Illinois out of a jam in the seventh, the Miners would strike in the eighth. Adrian English led off with a walk, and was pinch-run for by Joe Jensen. The rookie then took second base almost immediately and Gates knocked him in with a single to center field to break the ice on the tie and give the Miners a 2-1 lead.
Evan Mott and Eric Green pitched scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to nail down the win, with Green picking up his third save of the season and second in as many nights. Southern Illinois returns home on Tuesday night to begin a six-game homestand starting with a three-game series against the Frontier Greys at 7:05 p.m., with Rick Teasley on the mound for the Miners in the series opener.
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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