Miners Sweep River City
May 21, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. (May 21, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners dominated from start to finish, riding another strong start from Adam Lopez and a season-high 13 hits to defeat the River City Rascals 7-1 at Rent One Park. With the win, the Miners sweep a series from their former division rivals for the first time since July 3rd-5th, 2012, and match their best six-game start in franchise history at 5-1.
It was Lopez (2-0) who set the tone for the Miners all night on the mound. The right-hander scattered just four hits in seven innings of shutout baseball, striking out five without recording a single walk to earn his second win in as many starts.
The Miners got on the board offensively in the third, when Aaron Gates singled, stole second, moved to third on a single by Michael Earley and then scored on a wild pitch by Clint Wright (0-1) to make it 1-0 Miners. Southern Illinois would tack on two more in the fifth, with a double-play with the bases loaded and no one out by Niko Vasquez and an RBI single by Jon Minucci to make it 3-0 Miners.
They would tack on again against the River City bullpen. Back-to-back doubles by Vasquez and Riley in the seventh made it 4-0, and then the Miners put the game away with three more in the eighth. Gates led off with a triple (his second in three games and third of his career) before Frank Martinez walked. Earley then blasted a two-run triple, his fourth hit of the game to tie a career-high, to left-center for a 6-0 lead before Wendell Fairley followed with a sacrifice fly for a 7-0 lead. River City would score once in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Earley went 4-for-5 on the game with two runs scored, a triple and two RBIs, while Gates went 3-for-5 with a triple as well as two runs scored and Riley put up a 3-for-4 night with an RBI and a double. The Miners' seven runs tied a season-high and their 13 hits completed a series in which the Miners got 33 total hits in sweeping the visitors.
The Miners will continue their homestand on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the undefeated Rockford Aviators. Miguel Ramirez will take the ball for Southern Illinois against Rockford's Tony Rizzotti.
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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