Miners Blitzed by ThunderBolts in Third Straight Loss
July 6, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners allowed 13 runs and 23 hits on Friday night in a 13-5 defeat against the Windy City ThunderBolts at Rent One Park, the team's third-straight loss overall which also snapped a six-game home win streak.
Windy City scored three runs in the top of the first to take an immediate 3-0 lead on Austin Dubsky and the Miners, then added on with a pair of runs against Dubsky (3-2) in the third and four more in the fifth against Chris Washington to balloon their lead out to 9-0 before Southern Illinois got on the board.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nolan Earley led off with a triple and came home on a two-run homer by Kurt Wertz, Jr. that made it 9-2 and chased ThunderBolts starter Zac Westcott (4-6) from the game. Harrison Bragg followed with a solo homer of his own, his fifth on the year, to go back-to-back with Wertz and make it a 9-3 game.
But the ThunderBolts got all three runs back in the next two innings to make the score 12-3. A passed ball and an RBI single by Kyle Davis in the bottom of the eighth plated two more runs for the Miners to make it 12-5, but Windy City again added on in the ninth for the final margin.
Offensively, Earley finished 2-for-5 with a triple while Wertz went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs and Bragg set a new season- and career-best with three hits, but it was not enough in the lopsided home loss.
Following a day off on Saturday, Southern Illinois will look to bounce back in a doubleheader against Windy City to close out their schedule before the all-star break. Kurt Heyer will pitch in game one against Windy City's Jake Welch at 3:30 p.m., with the second contest featuring Aaron Rozek for the Miners and Connor Bach for the ThunderBolts.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's winningest 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.siminers.com.
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