Miners Walk off on Shepard's Blast, Pinto Ties Frontier League Wins Record
June 1, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners bested the Evansville Otters on Friday night at Rent One Park 3-2 on a walk-off home run by Chance Shepard in the bottom of the ninth inning, taking the series opener and tying manager Mike Pinto for the Frontier League's all-time wins record by a manager with his 625th victory with the Miners.
In the first three innings, Billy Griffin and Luc Rennie were both sharp for their respective teams, with Griffin scattering four hits and no runs allowed with five strikeouts and Rennie permitting one hit and one walk with no runs allowed and five strikeouts. In the bottom of the fourth, the Miners took the lead without the aid of a single hit thanks to four walks and one hit batter in the frame by Rennie. With the bases loaded, Nolan Earley's fielder's choice put Southern Illinois up 1-0, and later, a wild pitch by Rennie would double the lead to 2-0.
Griffin completed five and one-third shutout innings with a career-high six strikeouts and only one walk and five hits allowed in the game, and the bullpen of Ryan Askew, Patrick Duester and Kyle Tinius held the Otters hitless for three and two-thirds innings after Griffin departed with the lead. But trouble struck in the ninth, as Travis Harrison led off against John Werner with a single and Brandon Dulin hit a game-tying, two-run home run to right field to make it 2-2.
Werner (1-0), however, when the Otters got the potential go-ahead run to third base with one out, fanned both Ryan Long and Toby Thomas to send it to the bottom of the inning. Leading off against Sean Adler (0-1), Shepard launched a no-doubter over the left field fence to win it for the Miners, sending the 4,082 in attendance home happy and tying Pinto, the Miners' 12th-year skipper, for the all-time managerial wins record in the Frontier League.
The Miners will go for a third consecutive win overall and look to give Pinto the record by himself when they host the Otters on Saturday night, June 2nd at 6:05 p.m. Geno Encina will draw the starting assignment for the Miners, opposed by Austin Nicely for Evansville.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the Frontier League's winningest 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.siminers.com.
Frontier League Stories from June 1, 2018
- Otters Drop Opener against Miners in Walk-Off Fashion - Evansville Otters
- Crushers Win Series Opener in Schaumburg - Lake Erie Crushers
- Miners Walk off on Shepard's Blast, Pinto Ties Frontier League Wins Record - Southern Illinois Miners
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- Saves Leader Massingham to be Inducted into Frontier League Hall of Fame - Evansville Otters
- Williams Perez Picked up by Mariners - Southern Illinois Miners
- 2018 Post-MLB Draft Workout at the Corn Crib - Normal CornBelters
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- Washington's Comeback Attempt Comes up Just Short - Washington Wild Things
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