FL Southern Illinois Miners

Miners Launch Long Balls, Rally for Fourth Straight Win

August 3, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release


Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners won their fourth game in a row overall and finished 8-2 on their 10-game homestand with a thrilling late comeback, tying the game in the seventh on a two-run homer by Chance Shepard and going ahead on a solo blast in the eighth from Daniel Comstock en route to an 8-7 win over the Traverse City Beach Bums at Rent One Park on Thursday night.

In a game with several twists and turns, the Miners grabbed the initial lead in the bottom of the first inning on Shepard's first blast of the night, a two-run home run off starter Justin Finan that made it 2-0. The Beach Bums would come back, scoring a two-out run on a double from Kendall Patrick in the second inning, and tying the game on Steve Lohr's RBI hit in the fourth inning at 2-2.

Again, the Miners played long ball, and took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, with Romeo Cortina smacking his second homer in as many nights out to left field to put Southern Illinois back in front 4-2. An RBI groundout by Kurt Wertz, Jr. later in the inning following a Nolan Earley triple added insurance and made the score 5-2, a lead that would hold until the top of the seventh inning, when the visitors from Traverse City made a big comeback against the Miners bullpen.

With two outs and the bases clear, Isaac Benard and Will Kengor hit back-to-back singles, and both came home to score on Luke Lowery's two-run double, cutting the Miners' lead to 5-4. After a walk issued to Alexis Rivera, Lohr reached on an infield hit to shortstop to load the bases. Connor Oliver then cleared the sacks with a double to left-center field, putting the Beach Bums in front 7-5 at the seventh-inning stretch.

But the Miners again were not done. With two outs and a man on third base against reliever Matt Williams (3-2), Shepard came up and hit his second home run of the game, a two-run big fly to left field to tie the game at 7-7. After Kody Rock (1-0) pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, Williams remained on the mound in the bottom half, when Comstock came up clutch with his first hit as a Miner, a go-ahead solo shot that made it 8-7.

John Werner then nailed down the save in the ninth inning as the Miners won their fourth game in a row to pull into a tie for second place in the Frontier League's West Division. Shepard finished 2-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs to tie a season-high, while Cortina went 1-for-4 with a homer and drove in two runs. Earley also doubled and tripled in going 2-for-4 with two runs scored as the Miners swept the series.

Southern Illinois heads on the road for the weekend, embarking on a trip to the Chicago area to take on the Windy City ThunderBolt beginning Friday night, August 3rd, at 7:05 p.m. Steven Ridings will start for the Miners on the mound against the 'Bolts, who will have Eddie Avila on the hill in the series opener.

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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Frontier League Stories from August 3, 2018


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