Miners Rally, But Fall In Traverse City Opener
August 26, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (August 26, 2014) - The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind early, and rallied back to make it a one-run game in the eighth inning but could not complete a huge comeback in an eventual 8-7 loss to the Traverse City Beach Bums on Tuesday night at Wuerfel Park.
In the first, the Miners jumped out for three runs on two singles by Ryan Cavan and Niko Vasquez followed by a double by Frank Martinez and an error by right fielder Greg Harisis that allowed both to come home and score and Martinez to end up at third. Aaron Gates then drove Martinez home with a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
Traverse City then exploded in the bottom of the first for seven runs, however, off of Michael Carden (5-4), and also scored one more in the second to make it 8-3 and chase the Southern Illinois starter.
Suddenly down by five, the Miners turned to Britt Robertshaw out of the bullpen and after the right-hander walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, he struck out the last two batters of the inning, one of which on a marathon 11-pitch at-bat, to end the threat.
Robertshaw would then shut down the Beach Bums completely, and literally, not allowing a single baserunner in the third, fourth, fifth or sixth, retiring 14 batters in a row while amassing seven total strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings.
Southern Illinois scratched single runs across in the third and fourth innings to make it 8-5 before getting two more in the eighth. Matt Jones delivered an RBI single and Vasquez worked a walk with the bases loaded to pull the Miners within one run at 8-7. But a flyout would end the threat and Southern Illinois went down in order in the ninth to end the game.
The Miners will look to even up the series at 6:05 p.m. CDT on Wednesday night, with Anthony Montefusco pitching against Traverse City, who will pitch Alex Phillips in the contest.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2012 Frontier League Champions and have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception. They also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, please 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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