Miners Break out Bats to Beat CornBelters
May 20, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners had their offense break out in a big way on Friday night at The Corn Crib, pounding out 11 runs on 12 hits and also taking advantage of the Normal CornBelters' defensive miscues in an 11-5 win, moving their record to 4-3 on the season.
The Miners started off right away again, scoring two runs in the first as Craig Massey led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to seven in a row and Francisco Rosario also singled before an Alex De Leon sacrifice fly and an Aaron Gates fielder's choice plated the Miners' runs. In the bottom of the inning, starter Josh Kimborowicz walked three men in a row, but got out of the jam with a flyout, setting the stage for another solid outing.
Kimborowicz (2-0) would shut out the CornBelters in the first five innings. Meanwhile, the Miners plated three more runs in the third, the first on a groundout by Gates. After Steve Marino reached on an error, Jordan Brower notched his first Miners hit, an RBI single that moved Marino to third base before a subsequent error on the throw from center field allowed him to score for a 5-0 Miners lead.
The CornBelters and Miners would go back and forth beginning in the bottom of the sixth. Normal plated a run on a solo homer by Dillon Haupt, with the Miners getting two in the top of the seventh without the aid of a hit thanks to a hit batter, two more errors and a Brower sac-fly. With the score 7-1, Normal would chase Kimborowicz with a three-run rally in their half of the seventh, including a solo homer by R.J. Perucki, to make the score 7-4.
But the Miners would answer with four runs on one swing in the top of the eighth. After a dropped third strike allowed Rosario to reach and De Leon singled, a passed ball with Gates batting set up an intentional walk to get to Marino, who smacked the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for a grand slam, making it 11-4. Normal, which ended up with six errors in the game, got another run in the eighth for the final margin.
Marino finished with three runs scored and four RBIs in the slugfest, with De Leon notching three hits and Gates and Brower driving in two runs each. Four different Miners also finished with multiple runs scored.
Southern Illinois will next look to take the series in the second game on Saturday night at 6:35 p.m.
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