Miners Pitch Their Way Past Beach Bums
Published on July 7, 2015 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (July 7, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners received a fantastic start from Jarett Miller and came through in the late going to thwart Traverse City's rally in the eighth en route to a 2-1 win over the Beach Bums at Wuerfel Park on Tuesday night.
Miller (3-1) pitched a gem on the hill for Southern Illinois, who improved their league-best road record to 15-4 with the victory. The right-hander gave up two hits in the first inning, including a leadoff home run to former Miners outfielder Jay Austin, but put the clamps on the Beach Bums' lineup from there. After allowing a two-out infield single to Sam Bumpers, Miller would retire the next sixteen batters in a row in dominating through the middle innings.
Meanwhile, the Miners came back to tie the game at 1-1 on back-to-back doubles by all-stars Niko Vasquez and Frank Martinez in the fourth inning, and then took the lead for good in the fifth. Steve Marino led off and reached on a two-base error on second baseman Alex Tomasovich and went to third on a deep flyout. Rookie catcher Eric Strano, making his professional debut behind the plate for Southern Illinois in the game, then grounded a single into left through the drawn-in infield to give the Miners a 2-1 advantage. It was Strano's first professional hit.
Miller held the fort until the eighth inning, when he walked the first two batters he faced to end the long batters-retired streak. The right-hander was able to pick off the lead runner for the first out, and then after a nine-pitch at-bat by Jeff DeBlieux, got a ground ball to first that went off the glove of Jerrud Sabourin, but Martinez recovered the ball on the play and was able to flip it back to Sabourin for a big second out. Eric Green then came on and after allowing an infield single to Austin struck out Tomasovich with runners at second and third to get the Miners out of the huge jam.
Pete Perez then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his sixth save as the Miners moved within one game of the first-place Beach Bums with the big win. Miller went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking two and striking out a season-high eight to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Miners will meet the Beach Bums again on Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m. CT in the second game of the series, starting Rick Teasley against Traverse City's Kramer Champlin.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2014 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. 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 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
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