Miners Explode in 1st 3 Innings to Rout CornBelters
Published on August 29, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
MARION, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, ended a six-game winning streak as the Southern Illinois Miners exploded their entire offense in the first three innings of a 13-3 triumph on Friday night at Rent One Park.
The CornBelters tallied in the first inning when Santiago Chirino walked, stole second and scored on a single to center by Sam Judah. The Miners surged in front in their first time up when Ryan Cavan and was driven home by Niko Vasquez with a double to the spacious left center gap, followed by a trading-places double by Frank Martinez inside the third base bag for a 2-1 lead.
Southern Illinois used a two-out rally in the second inning to extend their advantage to 9-1 on seven hits including an RBI single by Martinez, a two-run double by Aaron Gates, a two-run homer inside the left field pole by Chris Burke and a copycat two-run home run by Steve Marino to end the night for Belters starter Mike Devine.
The Belters cut the deficit to 9-3 in the third inning as Chirino reached on an error, went to second on a walk to Mike Schwartz and scored on a bloop single to center by Aaron Dudley, followed by an RBI off the left field wall by Richard Lucas.
The guests' rally didn't faze the hosts as they immediately countered in the home half of the third by batting around again and scoring four more times on another RBI double by Gates, a wild pitch and a two-run single by Marquis Riley to extend the lead to 13-3 going to the fourth frame.
Matt Bywater (8-4) worked six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits with six walks and five strikeouts for the win. Devine (2-2) gave up nine runs on 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts in his 1 2/3 innings for the loss. The Miners clinched a playoff spot with the win.
The Belters remain in Marion for a 6:05 p.m. Saturday contest as right-hander Cullen Babin (6-6, 4.23 ERA) starts for Normal while the Miners counter with righty Miguel Ramirez (9-4, 4.25). The games can be heard live at www.normalbaseball.com beginning 15 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.
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