Miners Break out Bats to Beat Crushers
June 16, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners tied a season-high with 13 hits offensively, including at least one from each of the nine batters in their lineup, and got another strong pitching performance as well in beating the Lake Erie Crushers 6-1 at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon, Ohio on Wednesday night.
The first three innings were scoreless, as Kaleb Schmidt walked the leadoff man in the first and third frames but ended both of those innings by inducing double-play ground balls. Lake Erie starter Sean Johnson (0-3) was able to work around several baserunners to hold the Miners off the board as well, but that changed in the top of the fourth, when the Miners took the initial lead and never looked back.
Jared Mang led off the frame with a double, and went to third base on a single by Nolan Earley. Mang then scored on a high-bouncing infield hit by Ryan Stacy, with Johnson's throw home not in time, making the score 1-0. After a sacrifice bunt by Marshall Rich moved runners to second and third base, two batters later, Anthony Brocato tripled the Miners' lead to 3-0 with an RBI single to center field.
Schmidt (2-0), the reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Week, settled in for Southern Illinois, and the Miners would add on to their lead in the fifth against Johnson on a two-out, RBI infield hit by Rich that made it 4-0. The Crushers would get their only run in the bottom of the frame and cut their deficit to 4-1, as Brody Wofford hit a comebacker to the mound off Schmidt, whose wide throw to first moved the runner to second before he scored on an RBI single by Zack Gray.
But the Miners responded by also plating a run in the top of the sixth to make it 5-1 on an RBI single by Luke Mangieri after back-to-back walks by reliever Sam Curtis. In the bottom of the sixth, the Crushers chased Schmidt with back-to-back walks as well, but Jose Fuentes came in to strand both runners on base and preserve the lead.
The Southern Illinois bullpen would then finish off the game with three perfect innings, as Fuentes, Blake Stelzer, and Mitchell Walters combined to retire all 11 Lake Erie batters they faced with six strikeouts. An RBI single by Yeltsin Gudiño in the eighth inning accounted for the final 6-1 margin.
Gudiño led the Miners' 13-hit attack with a season-high three hits, while Stacy and Ian Walters each had a pair of knocks for Southern Illinois. The Miners also set a season-high with their five-run margin of victory, and won back-to-back games for the first time in 2021. They will now go for a series win over the Crushers in the finale in Avon on Thursday, June 17, at 6:05 p.m., with Trent Johnson on the mound against Lake Erie southpaw Paul Hall, Jr.
Frontier League Stories from June 16, 2021
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- Miners Drop Second Straight to New York - Sussex County Miners
- Lake Erie outhit 13-3 in 6-1 loss to Southern Illinois - Lake Erie Crushers
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