Miners Use Mid-Game Homers to Beat Florence
July 26, 2019 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners won their second straight game on Friday night at Rent One Park, coming back from a fifth-inning deficit to beat the Florence Freedom 4-3 in the series opener.
In front of over 5,000 fans on the night where former pitching great Ryan Bird was inducted into the Frontier League Hall of Fame, the Miners got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning against Freedom starter Mike Castellani (6-2). Kyle Davis hit a one-out double to left and was singled to third base by Andy Cosgrove before being driven in by Taylor Sparks on a sacrifice fly, with his first Miners RBI making it 1-0. Joe Duncan then continued the inning with a single, and Colton Pogue followed with a sharp grounder that hit off the third base bag and over the head of Taylor Bryant for a double, bringing in Cosgrove and making it 2-0.
Southern Illinois starter Steven Ridings allowed just one baserunner with five strikeouts in the first three innings, but surrendered a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Ricky Ramirez, Jr., cutting the lead to 2-1. Then in the fifth inning, Austin Wobrock's two-run double against Cody Thompson gave the visitors their first lead and made the score 3-2 Florence. That lead would be short-lived, however, as Cletis Avery hit a solo home run on the first pitch of the next inning into the Miners' bullpen to knot the score at 3-3. Then, in the sixth, Sparks came up and also crushed a first-pitch homer to left field, his first as a Miner, to put the home team up 4-3.
That would end up being the final score, as Thompson's (2-2) scoreless sixth inning was followed with three more blank frames from the Miners bullpen of Will Headean, Benjamin Dum, and Jake Godfrey, with Godfrey picking up his first pro save in the ninth. The Miners' offense also amassed 12 hits in the contest, with Sparks, Davis, Duncan and Jamey Smart all notching two and only one of the starting nine players going hitless.
The Miners will go for a third consecutive win on Saturday, July 27, as they conclude the series against the Freedom with a doubleheader beginning at 5:05 p.m. at Rent One Park
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's most-successful franchise since debuting in 2007, winning the 2012 Frontier League Championship as well as division titles in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016. 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 their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the box office at (618) 998-8499. For additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
Frontier League Stories from July 26, 2019
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- Miners Use Mid-Game Homers to Beat Florence - Southern Illinois Miners
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