Late Comeback Falls Short as Miners Drop Series
May 16, 2019 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
on, OH - The Southern Illinois Miners sliced a three-run deficit down to one in the ninth inning, and put the tying run at third base with one out, but came up short in a 7-6 rubber match loss to the Lake Erie Crushers, dropping to 2-4 on the season.
Lake Erie got in front 1-0 on a leadoff solo home run in the first inning by Aaron Hill, but despite threatening for more, could not add on as Chase Adkins settled in. The score remained 1-0 until the fourth inning as the Miners could not solve Crushers' starter Jared Koenig (1-0), but Lake Erie then plated three more runs off Adkins (0-1) to take a 4-0 lead after four.
In the top of the fifth, the Miners got all three runs back as Andy Cosgrove led off with a double and Anthony Brocato reached on an error, with Cosgrove scoring on the play to make it 4-1. Three batters later, Gianfranco Wawoe cranked a two-run home run out to left field for his first homer as a Miner and first RBIs of the season, making it a one-run game again at 4-3.
But the Crushers scored three runs right back in the bottom half, chasing Adkins from the game on a leadoff walk and then scoring two more runs against Patrick Duester (with one being unearned due to an error in the frame), all with only one base hit. That put the home team up 7-3, with Stephen Lohr going deep against reliever Jake Repavich leading off the next half-inning for a 7-4 score.
Neither team was able to score again until the Miners came to bat in the top of the ninth inning against Crushers closer Seth Lucio. Cosgrove, Brocato and pinch-hitter Cletis ery all drew walks to load the bases and put the tying run at first with no one out. After Lucio recorded a strikeout, with Wawoe batting, a passed ball and a wild pitch brought home two runs and landed ery at third base with only one out, 90 feet from tying the score.
But with the infield drawn in, Wawoe hit a ground ball to Dale Burdick and third base, with ery out at home for the second out of the inning, and Brett Siddall popped out to end the game.
Cosgrove doubled twice in the game and scored two runs to lead the Miners' offense and Brocato also scored two runs of his own, but it was not enough as the Miners dropped both series on their opening road trip by two-games-to-one margins. The Miners will next come home for the first time, hosting the Windy City ThunderBolts in a three-game series beginning on Friday, May 17 at 7:05 p.m. Steven Ridings will pitch for Southern Illinois against the 'Bolts' Tyler Thornton at Rent One Park.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's most-successful 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.southernillinoisminers.com.
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Frontier League Stories from May 16, 2019
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