Miners Split Doubleheader with Otters
July 18, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners rode the right arm of Chase Cunningham to a 4-0 win over the Evansville Otters in game one of their doubleheader at Bosse Field on Saturday night before falling in the second game by a score of 4-2 for the split of the road twin-bill.
The Miners got the lead in the top of the first inning of game one, as Nolan Earley drove home Jarrod Watkins with an RBI single to center field to put Southern Illinois up 1-0. Cunningham (2-1) then worked around leadoff base runners in the first and second innings and got on a roll, retiring 14 batters in a row at one point.
Anthony Brocato then provided insurance in the top of the fifth inning with a three-run home run to put the Miners up 4-0, which was all Cunningham needed, as he went the distance for his second shutout of the season, striking out seven and walking one while also allowing just four hits as the Miners took game one.
In the second game, it was the Otters scoring all of their runs in the first inning off Michael Austin (2-4), as a leadoff walk and four hits catapulted the home team to a 4-0 advantage. Austin would settle in to pitch three scoreless innings after that while the Miners' offense went to work against Braden Scott.
Southern Illinois' lineup was patient against the Otters left-hander, drawing five walks off him in three-plus innings, but was unable to break through with a big hit. Yeltsin Gudiño got the Miners on the board with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 in the fourth inning, and Brocato homered for the third straight game overall in the top of the sixth inning, smacking his second long ball of the doubleheader to get the Miners within 4-2. But they were unable to draw closer in splitting the two contests.
The Miners will look to win the series in the rubber game on Sunday, July 18, at 5:05 p.m., with Zac Westcott starting on the mound for Southern Illinois against Evansville's Polo Portela at Bosse Field to conclude the road trip.
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