Gates Sets Franchise Hits Record, Miners Win Series in Sunday Slugfest
Published on August 21, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
The Southern Illinois Miners beat the Normal CornBelters by pounding out 13 runs on 13 hits in a 13-9 win on Sunday evening at The Corn Crib in Normal, with history being made in the process as Aaron Gates passed Joey Metropoulos to become the Miners' all-time leader in career hits with a single in the fifth inning. The Miners also took the series by winning the final two games and have now won five of their last six overall.
In the first three innings, the teams went back and forth. Southern Illinois took an initial 3-0 lead in the first on a bases-loaded walk by Alex De Leon and a two-out, two-run single by Willi Martin, but Normal would roar back, hitting three solo home runs to tie the game before a wild pitch by Corey Sessions plated a go-ahead run to make the score 4-3 after just one inning. Normal would also add an RBI single in the second against eventual winning pitcher Nick Palacios (4-0) to take a 5-3 advantage.
The Miners would fight back in the third and take the lead for good. Gates would smack an RBI double to draw them back within 5-4, and Shane Kennedy's fielder's choice would tie the score at 5-5. But the Miners were not done there, as after Kennedy stole second (one of three stolen bases he had on the game), Craig Massey doubled him home to make the score 6-5 Miners.
From there, Southern Illinois piled on runs in the middle frames, starting in the fourth when Martin crushed a solo home run to center field to make it 7-5. In the fifth inning, Gates came up and lined a record-breaking single to left field for the 304th hit of his Miners career, passing Southern Illinois legend Joey Metropoulos to set a new franchise benchmark. The inning would then continue when Kennedy walked and Massey reached on an error to load the bases for Nolan Earley, who parked a grand slam into the corn bins in right-center field to break the game open and give the Miners an 11-5 lead.
Kennedy would drive home two more runs with a double in the sixth inning for a 13-5 margin, while Normal responded in the bottom half of the inning with a grand slam of their own off the bat of Aaron Dudley. But the CornBelters got no closer as Southern Illinois closed out the game and the series, winning the latter two games to one after dropping the series opener on Friday night.
Kennedy led the charge on the offense-abundant night by reaching base safely four times and going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored, two walks, three RBIs and three stolen bases, while Martin ended up with a career-high four hits in a 4-for-5 performance with two runs scored and three RBIs. Gates' record-breaking game was part of a 2-for-6 contest with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, and Massey added a 2-for-5 game with a pair of runs scored, a double and an RBI.
The Miners will have an off day on Monday before hosting the Florence Freedom on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Rent One Park. Jarett Miller will take the ball for Southern Illinois against Florence's Jeremy Gooding in the series opener.
Frontier League Stories from August 21, 2016
- Gates Sets Franchise Hits Record, Miners Win Series in Sunday Slugfest - Southern Illinois Miners
- Beach Bums Split Twin Bill at Lake Erie - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Miners Clinch Playoff Berth, Beat CornBelters to Even Series - Southern Illinois Miners
- Rascals Get Back to .500 with Saturday Night Win - River City Rascals
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