Miller Sparkles, But Miners Drop Series to Gateway
Published on May 19, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners dropped the rubber match of their series on Thursday night to the Gateway Grizzlies by a final score of 3-2 at Rent One Park, dropping to 3-3 overall on the young season.
Miners starter Jarett Miller was outstanding again on the mound, pitching seven strong innings and shutting down the Gateway offense with nine strikeouts, one off his Miners career-high. But with two outs in the seventh inning, Miller walked Brandon Thomas and Tyler Tewell hit the next pitch over the right field fence to tie the score at 2-2.
The Miners had led 2-0 thanks to single runs in the fifth and sixth off Gateway starter Trevor Richards. In the fifth, after a leadoff walk by Aaron Gates and a wild pitch, a ground ball by Shane Kennedy moved the runner to third. Brendan O'Brien struck out, but the ball got away from Tewell, allowing Gates to break home with the game's first run.
In the sixth, a similar situation helped make it 2-0, as Craig Massey led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to six in a row, and with him at second and two outs, Alex De Leon struck out with a wild pitch allowing him to reach and Massey to get to third. Gates then cracked an RBI double to right-center to bring Massey home and double the Miners' lead.
After Miller exited, Jake Cose (0-1) worked out of a jam for a scoreless eighth, but the Grizzlies broke through in the ninth as the Miners' reliever walked two in the inning before allowing a go-ahead sacrifice fly to Tewell, who finished with all three RBIs in the game for Gateway. The Miners got the tying run on base in the ninth, but failed to score in the defeat.
The Miners left 12 runners on base in the contest, while managing four total hits in dropping the home series to the Grizzlies. Southern Illinois will head onto the road for the first time in 2016 on Friday for the start of a five-game road trip beginning at The Corn Crib against the Normal CornBelters. Josh Kimborowicz will take the mound in the opener at 6:35 p.m.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the back-to-back 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 May 19, 2016
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