Miners Rally To Best CornBelters, Take Series
Published on August 2, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (August 1, 2014) - The Southern Illinois Miners came back from an early deficit to rally for five runs in the fifth en route to an 8-4 win over the Normal CornBelters on Friday night at the Corn Crib in Normal, clinching their seventh consecutive series victory overall.
Down 1-0, Southern Illinois rallied with two outs in the fourth as Frank Martinez doubled and Aaron Gates singled him home to tie the score at 1-1. Normal got the run back and led 2-1 entering the fifth inning when the Miners put forth their big rally against CornBelters starter Cullen Babin (5-5).
Chris Burke led off with a walk and scored all the way around from first on a double just inside the bag at third by Steve Marino to make it 2-2. After a sacrifice, Matt Howard came through with a single to center field to give the Miners the lead before three more consecutive singles by Marquis Riley, Ryan Cavan and Niko Vasquez- the latter two of which driving in one run apiece- made the score 5-2 Miners.
Martinez added an RBI groundout for a 6-2 advantage to chase Babin from the game.
Once again, Normal got two runs back on a homer by Mike Schwartz in the bottom of the inning, but the Miners would get both back in the seventh. After pinch-hitter Jon Eisen walked to lead off the frame, Cavan smacked a double to center that was misplayed into an error as Eisen sprinted home from first base. Martinez followed with his second RBI of the night- a single scoring Cavan that made it 8-4.
Miguel Ramirez (6-4) pitched another quality start of six innings, giving up three earned runs and walking only one batter with two strikeouts to win his third consecutive start for Southern Illinois.
The well-rested bullpen of James Bierlein, Stew Brase and Derrick Miramontes struck out a combined six batters over the final three innings to hold the powerful Normal offense down late and seal the win.
Southern Illinois will return home on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. to face the River City Rascals for the first game of a three-game set.
Matt Bywater will take the mound against the Rascals' Tommy Mendoza.
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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