Miners Out-Slug Freedom to Even Weekend Series
Published on July 14, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Florence, KY - The Southern Illinois Miners busted out their bats on Saturday night at UC Health Stadium in Florence, scoring three runs to take control in the first inning and keeping up the offensive onslaught throughout the contest in a wire-to-wire, 12-8 victory over the Florence Freedom.
Kurt Wertz, Jr. got the scoring started immediately, leading off the game with a solo home run against former Miner Steve Hagen (6-4) to put Southern Illinois in front 1-0. After an error by Graylin Derke at third base allowed Kyle Davis to reach, Chance Shepard bashed his 15th homer of the season over the left field wall, a two-run shot that made the score 3-0 before a single out was recorded in the game.
The Freedom answered with single runs in the first and second innings off Miners starter Steven Ridings to get within a run at 3-2, but five straight hits in the top of the third inning knocked out Hagen and plated four more runs for Southern Illinois to extend the lead out to 7-2. Joe Dudek and Harrison Bragg had doubles in the inning, with Nolan Earley, Ben Moore and Marc DiLeo also singling in the frame. In the top of the fifth, the lead for the Miners would swell to 9-2 when Joe Duncan tripled to right-center field to plate two more runs.
Florence rallied back, scoring three runs with two outs in both the fifth and sixth innings, with Caleb Lopes' bases-clearing, three-run double slicing the Miners' advantage all the way down to one run at 9-8. But in the seventh, Romeo Cortina came up with a two-out, pinch-hit double to center field to plate a valuable insurance run and make it 10-8. Southern Illinois' bullpen held that lead, and with two outs in the ninth inning, a single by Duncan along with walks by Cortina and Davis loaded the bases for Shepard. The all-star first baseman then came up clutch, with a two-run double to left field to make the score 12-8.
Florence got a run in the bottom of the ninth but could not get closer as the Miners pounded out 19 hits as a team, one off a season-high. Every player in the game for Southern Illinois finished with at least one hit and one run scored, while eight of the ten batters used in the contest had at least one RBI. Shepard finished with a season-high four RBIs in going 2-for-5, while Earley, Moore and Duncan each enjoyed three-hit nights at the plate. Bragg doubled twice and pitched up two runs scored as well as the Miners snapped a six-game losing streak in emphatic fashion.
The Miners will look to win the series on Sunday night in the rubber match against the Freedom at 5:05 p.m. at UC Health Stadium. Kurt Heyer will toe the rubber for Southern Illinois against Florence's Jordan Kraus.
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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