FL Southern Illinois Miners

Miners Take Series from Freedom

September 6, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release


Marion, Ill. (September 6, 2015) - The Southern Illinois Miners and Florence Freedom played a back-and-forth game in the regular season finale for both teams on Sunday evening at Rent One Park, and with the game tied at 6-6 in the eighth, Toby DeMello's solo home run gave the Miners the win, 7-6, in the rubber match of the three-game set for the series win. The Miners finish 63-33 in 2015, one game off the all-time franchise record.

Florence scored twice after an error with two outs in the first on a double by Frazier Hall, with both runs unearned off of Miners starter Tim Flight for a 2-0 lead. The Miners got a run right back in the bottom of the frame as with two outs, Michael Earley doubled to right-center and Jerrud Sabourin brought him home to make it 2-1. The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the third, when after Florence starter Cody Gray put a pair aboard on two walks, Aaron Gates parked a three-run, go-ahead homer over the right-center field wall. That, also with two outs in the inning, made the score 4-2 Southern Illinois.

The Miners extended that lead on an RBI single in the sixth inning by DeMello for a 5-2 lead after Gates doubled to lead off and was sacrificed to third by Ryan DiMascio. Florence then plated a run in the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk by Austin Newell to make it 5-3, but the Miners responded with a pair of two-out singles followed by an error on Steve Carrillo, making the score 6-3 after seven innings of play.

The Freedom would then mount a comeback against Eric Green (9-3) in the eighth. After a walk plus two singles scored one run, Daniel Fraga tied the score on a two-run triple to right-center field to knot the score at 6-6. Green buckled down, however, as Fraga was out at home on a ground ball to the drawn-in Frank Martinez for the first out, and later, with runners at second and third and two outs, Green struck out Hall to keep the game tied. Then, against Ed Kohout (4-4) in the eighth, DeMello came up and hammered a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall, tying his season-high with his third hit in the contest and giving the Miners a 7-6 lead. Shane Street then came in for the ninth and struck out two to earn his first save of the season as the Miners closed out the regular season.

As the top seed in the postseason by virtue of their league-best record, the Miners will have a bye into the best-of-three division series round, with their opponent to be determined by the results of the wild card round on Tuesday. Game One of the series will be on the road for the Miners on Thursday night at a site to be determined, with the club returning home for Game Two in Marion on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the back-to-back 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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