Homers Lift Miners to Fourth Straight Win
June 21, 2017 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners hit three two-run homers in the first four innings, two by second baseman Brett Wiley, and foiled a comeback attempt late by the River City Rascals on Tuesday night at CarShield Field in O'Fallon for a 7-6 win, their fourth in a row to set a new season-best.
Craig Massey led off the game in the top of the first by drawing a walk off former Miner Dan Ludwig (2-1), and Wiley followed with a two-run homer to right-center field to give Southern Illinois a quick 2-0 lead. River City would score in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Braxton Martinez, but Ethan Gibbons kept the Miners in front. In the top of the second inning, after a single by Ben Moore, Marc Flores smashed a two-run shot of his own to right-center, extending the lead to 4-1.
The Rascals would respond again in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and another sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of Jimmy Kerrigan to draw the Rascals within 4-3. But Gibbons (4-1) would settle down after that, and would not allow a single run in the next four innings, retiring nine batters in a row between the third and sixth innings and permitting just one hit after the run-scoring rally in the second inning to earn his fourth win in his last five starts.
He got further help when the Miners added on to their lead with three two-out runs in the fourth inning. With Flores on third base after a single, stolen base and wild pitch, Massey hit an infield single that stayed fair inside the third base line to make it 5-3. Wiley followed by blasting another two-run homer, his second of the game, to left field to make it 7-3.
River City would score once in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly from Josh Silver, and then twice more on a two-out, two-run homer by Silver to get within 7-6, but with the tying run at first, John Werner got Mike Jurgella to pop out to Wiley to end the game. Wiley finished 2-for-5 with two homers, four RBIs and two runs scored, while Flores and Massey added 2-for-3 games with two runs scored each in the Miners' fourth-straight victory.
The Miners will look to snatch the series from their division rivals in a matinee on Wednesday morning in the second game of the set, with first pitch scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Kody Knaus will start for Southern Illinois, opposed by River City's Reese Gregory.
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