Miners Falter, Drop High-Scoring Game to Joliet
Published on August 6, 2021 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Luke Mangieri of the Southern Illinois Miners
(Southern Illinois Miners)
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners scored 11 runs on 16 hits on Friday night against the Joliet Slammers, but their pitching stumbled in a 14-11 defeat at Rent One Park in Marion.
Chase Cunningham (3-3) struggled to open the game, allowing two runs on four hits in the first inning as the visitors took a 2-0 lead. Braxton Davidson's solo home run in the top of the third made the score 3-0 before the Miners responded in the bottom of the inning, using a leadoff error and a single to set up Luke Mangieri, who hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-1.
Cunningham then worked around a leadoff walk for a scoreless fourth inning, but was unable to do so again in the fifth, when the Slammers plated three straight runs on two-out hits to take a 6-1 lead. Undaunted, the Miners rallied back with a three-run inning of their own in the bottom half, with Jared Mang knocking in a run with an RBI triple, Arturo Nieto singling in another, and Nolan Earley reaching on an infield hit with two outs that scored Nieto from second base and made the score 6-4.
In the seventh, the Slammers brought two more walks issued to them by Miners pitching home on Lane Baremore's two-run single that made the score 8-4. Yet again, the Miners equaled the Joliet offense in the bottom of the same inning, as Mangieri tripled to score Nieto and make it 8-5, followed two batters later by an Earley RBI groundout to make it 8-6. In the bottom of the eighth, Anthony Brocato rapped a long homer to left-center field to get the Miners within 8-7.
But that was the closest they would get- three straight walks by Tyler Brown leading off the top of the ninth opened the door for the Slammers to score six runs in the frame on a two-run double by pinch-hitter Dave Matthews, an RBI fielder's choice by Dylan Hardy, and a three-run homer by Brylie Ware that made it 14-7. Ware's homer would prove to be the game-winner, as remarkably, the Miners rallied again to score four times in the bottom half. Mangieri led off with his second triple of the game, and scored on a Yeltsin Gudiño RBI double to make it 14-8. Earley then doubled Gudiño home to cut the deficit to five, and after a single by Ariel Sandoval, an RBI groundout by Ian Walters made it 14-10. Jarrod Watkins then doubled with two outs in the frame to score Sandoval and make it 14-11, but Southern Illinois came up short in the high-scoring contest.
Eight of the nine batters in the order had at least a hit, with eight of the nine scoring a run, and eight of the nine driving in at least a run. Seven of the nine players in the lineup also had multiple hits in the game, but the Miners' pitching staff issued 10 walks, six of which ended up scoring in the three-run defeat.
Southern Ilinois will look to bounce back on Saturday, August 7, at 6:05 p.m., with Zac Westcott starting for the Miners against Joliet's Cam Aufderheide at Rent One Park.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's most-successful 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. In addition, they have sent 60 players to MLB organizations in their 14 years of operation. For ticket information, contact the box office at (618) 998-8499. For additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
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 Luke Mangieri of the Southern Illinois Miners |
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