Martinez, Rapp Power Miners to Series Sweep
July 19, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (July 19, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners got a season-high four hits from Frank Martinez on his 30th birthday as well as 11 strikeouts from Matt Bywater to earn an 8-4 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts on Sunday evening at Rent One Park for their fourth win in a row, tenth straight over Windy City dating back to last season and a six-game season-series sweep for the third time in franchise history over any opponent.
The Miners jumped in front with four runs in the third inning against Windy City starter Jake Fisher (2-5). After Aaron Gates and Michael Earley worked back-to-back leadoff walks and Niko Vasquez reached on an infield single, Martinez smacked a two-run single for a 2-0 Miners lead. Later in the inning, with two outs, Brian Portelli drove home two more with a double down the left field line to make it 4-0 Southern Illinois.
Bywater (7-2) did the rest, as the reigning Pitcher of the Year fanned 11 batters (one off his season and career-high), allowing two runs on six hits while walking only one batter. The two runs he allowed came in the top of the fourth on a two-run double by Max White, as he earned his first win since June 17th with the Miners also winning a game he had started for the first time since that date.
The Miners would blow it open in the seventh with four more runs. Martinez got his fourth hit of the contest with an RBI single that made the score 5-2 before Joe Rapp came up and launched his first home run of the season, a three-run blast into the Miners' bullpen that made the score 8-2. Windy City would score single runs in the eighth and ninth for the final margin.
Martinez finished 4-for-4 in the game to lead Southern Illinois offensively, while Vasquez, Portelli and Gates each had two hits in the game. The Miners pounded out 12 more hits in the contest, bringing their total for the three-game weekend series to 42 with their fifth double-digit hit total in their last six games overall. The win brought the Miners their fourth win in a row as well, the first time since late May that they had won at least that many consecutive contests.
After a day off on Monday, the Miners remain at home for a three-game series with the Gateway Grizzlies beginning on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Jarett Miller will take the ball for the Miners against Gateway's Trevor Richards.
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.
Frontier League Stories from July 19, 2015
- Brown Lifts Grizzlies to Series Victory over Greys - Gateway Grizzlies
- Martinez, Rapp Power Miners to Series Sweep - Southern Illinois Miners
- Otters Sweep Joliet for Sixth Straight Win - Evansville Otters
- ThunderBolts Lose to Southern Illinois 8-4 - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Otters Win Game Three against Slammers 6-4 - Joliet Slammers
- Gooding Is Great as Freedom Take Series - Florence Y'alls
- Aviators Fall in Sunday Doubleheader - Rockford Aviators
- Washington Falls to Normal in 11th Inning - Washington Wild Things
- CornBelters Come from Behind to Beat Wild Things in 11 Innings - Normal CornBelters
- Crushers fall 2-1 to Boomers in series finale - Lake Erie Crushers
- Boomers Pitch Past Crushers in Finale - Schaumburg Boomers
- July 19 Florence Freedom Game Notes - Florence Y'alls
- Evansville Otters Game Preview - Evansville Otters
- Rascals Walk Off, Blow out Aviators in Doubleheader Sweep - River City Rascals
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.
