Miners Come Back Late to Take Series at Gateway
August 6, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Yeltsin Gudiño of the Southern Illinois Miners
(Southern Illinois Miners)
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners were down 3-1 after six innings against the Gateway Grizzlies on Thursday night, but scored four runs in the seventh to take the lead for good, then added on five more late runs in the last two innings to notch a 10-5 victory at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget.
The early part of the game was a pitcher's duel between Geoff Bramblett and Trent Johnson. The Miners scored first in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-out RBI single by Ian Walters that made it 1-0. Gateway would answer in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game on a two-out RBI single by Jay Prather at 1-1.
Johnson ended up tossing five innings, allowing just the one run in the game, but Gateway took advantage of Southern Illinois mistakes in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and the bases empty against Zach Lauzon, the Grizzlies used an infield single and three walks to go in front 3-2 on a bases-loaded base-on-balls by Alonzo Jones, Jr. The next batter then reached on an error by Walters at third base to extend the advantage to 3-1 before Tyler Brown (1-0) got the final out of the inning on a ground ball to shortstop.
In the following inning, the Miners pounced. Jarrod Watkins was hit by a Cody Thompson (1-4) pitch leading off the top of the seventh, and Jared Mang then walked. After a popped-up bunt for the first out of the inning, Luke Mangieri lined an RBI single to left-center field to make it a 3-2 game. Yeltsin Gudiño then fouled off six straight pitches with an 0-2 count before lifting an RBI double down the left field line, keeping the ball just fair to score Mang and tie the game at 3-3. With men at second and third base, a Nolan Earley sacrifice fly gave Southern Illinois a 4-3 lead, and Ariel Sandoval followed with a run-scoring double to make it 5-3.
The next inning, Southern Illinois added on to their lead against Carter Hayes. This time, Anthony Brocato led off the inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a Cody Erickson RBI single to make it 6-3. Mangieri would hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 7-3, and with two outs later in the inning, Sandoval brought in two more runs for a 9-3 advantage. Watkins would cap the scoring for Southern Illinois in the ninth with his second home run in as many nights, a solo shot that made it 10-3 Miners.
Gateway would plate two runs of their own in the ninth, but could not get any closer as the Miners secured a series win. It ended up being a team-wide offensive effort, with eight of the nine players in the lineup notching at least one hit, while seven players had at least one run scored and seven more drove in at least one run. Sandoval led the way with three RBIs, while Mangieri added two of his own, and Gudiño joined Watkins and Mang with multiple runs scored as the Miners won the series in the rubber game in Sauget.
Southern Illinois now returns home to kick off a weekend series against the Joliet Slammers on Friday, August 6. Chase Cunningham will pitch for the Miners in the opener, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. at Rent One Park.
Images from this story
 Yeltsin Gudiño of the Southern Illinois Miners |
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