Miners Fall Hard to Slammers on Saturday Night
May 26, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Joliet, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners came back from a first-inning 2-0 deficit to tie the score at 2-2 in the second inning, but could not keep the Joliet Slammers' offense down after that, as the home team scored multiple runs in an inning five times in the game en route to an 11-4 decision over the Miners at Joliet Route 66 Stadium on Saturday night.
Joliet opened the scoring with two runs in the first against Southern Illinois starter Chris Washington, but in the second inning the Miners would rally to tie it up. Joe Dudek singled to lead off, extending his hit streak to nine games, and Anthony Critelli followed two batters later with another single. Romeo Cortina doubled one run in to make it 2-1 Slammers, and then Corey Dempster lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Critelli from third base and tie the score at 2-2.
But the Miners were unable to prevent Joliet from pulling away offensively, as the Slammers followed up with two runs in the bottom of the third and three in the fourth inning to chase Washington (0-1) from the game and take a 7-2 lead. In the sixth inning, Chance Shepard blasted his Frontier League-leading sixth homer of the season, a solo shot that cut the deficit to 7-3, but again the Slammers answered, scoring two more times against Tre Hobbs in the bottom of the frame to lead 9-3.
After a pair of solo home runs in the eighth extended the lead out to 11-3, the Miners would add an additional run in the top of the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Marc DiLeo, but did not get closer in falling hard to the Slammers in the middle game of the weekend set. Shepard finished a triple away from the cycle, going 3-for-4 in the contest while Cortina also had a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 with a double, but the Slammers' offense pounded out 19 hits in the game to even the series at one game apiece.
The two teams will face off in a rubber match on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. to decide the series in the final game of the Miners' road trip. Billy Griffin will draw the starting nod for Southern Illinois.
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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