Massey Hits for Cycle, Miners Walk off over Otters
Published on May 28, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners found themselves down early to the Evansville Otters on Saturday night at Rent One Park, but fought their way back to take a 4-3 lead in the seventh, and after the Otters tied the score in the ninth, Aaron Gates sent the fans home happy with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 5-4.
The game also featured history, as Miners left fielder Craig Massey became the second player in team history to hit for the cycle, with a 4-for-5 performance that included a single, double, triple and home run. After the Miners fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, his home run got them on the board in the third, a solo shot down the left field line that made it 2-1.
The Otters got that run back on a two-out RBI single by Josh Allen to push the lead back to two runs at 3-1 in the fourth while the Miners' offense was held to just two hits (including Massey's homer) until the sixth inning. Massey led off with an infield single up the middle and after stealing second base he came home on a big two-out RBI single by Alex De Leon to make the score 3-2. After a shutdown inning by Andrew Potter, the Miners went back to work in the seventh. Jordan Brower led off with a single to right, and Julius Gaines was hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch by Otters starter Tyler Vail moved the runners up, Toby DeMello walked to load the bases with none out.
That brought up Massey again, and again he delivered with a two-run double to right-center field, giving Southern Illinois a 4-3 lead, their first of the game. Evansville would get out of the inning without further damage, and would almost tie the score in the top of the eighth against Jake Cose, but Kurt Wertz, Jr. failed to step on third base when coming home from second on an single by Chris Breen. The Otters would knot the score in the ninth, however, on an RBI triple by Dane Phillips. With a runner at third and only one out, Isaac Gil (1-0) held the line with a grounder to first and a swinging strikeout to keep the game tied at 4-4.
In the bottom of the ninth, with one out, Massey came up yet again, and with a triple down the right field line became the second Miner to accomplish the cycle. Reliever Brodie Greer (0-2) got the second out on a strikeout, but walked De Leon after intentionally walking Nolan Earley to load the bases for Gates, who sent a walk-off single over John Schultz's head in left field to win the ballgame for the Miners.
Massey finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs on the night, extending his hitting streak to 11 games in a row while joining Chris Burke (2014) as the only players in the Miners' ten-year history to record a cycle. Gates' single was his third hit of the night in a 3-for-5 performance, while Steve Marino added two hits for the Miners in the win.
Southern Illinois evened up the series with the Otters with the victory, and will try for the series win in a rubber match on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. Dan Ludwig will make his Rent One Park debut against Evansville's Payton Baskette.
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