Miners Win Fifth in a Row, Sweep Gateway
Published on June 24, 2021 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind in the top of the first inning on Thursday against the Gateway Grizzlies at Rent One Park, but scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to go ahead, and never lost that advantage as Kaleb Schmidt pitched seven innings of two-run ball in a 7-3 Miners win, securing a series sweep as well as the Miners' fifth consecutive victory.
Schmidt (3-0) ran into trouble with one out in the top of the first inning, as the Grizzlies loaded the bases, then brought in a run on Nate Etheridge's RBI infield single for a 1-0 lead. Still with one out and the bases loaded, however, Gateway would get nothing more, as Schmidt got out of trouble with a shallow fly-out and a strikeout.
With one out in the bottom half, the Miners would be patient against Grizzlies rookie starter Colton Easterwood (0-2), drawing four straight walks against him to tie the game at 1-1 when Ian Walters accepted a bases-loaded free pass. A wild pitch then made it 2-1 Miners before Nolan Earley added a third run in the frame with a groundout to second base for a 3-1 Southern Illinois lead.
Gateway got a leadoff solo home run in the second from Andres Regnault to get within 3-2, but Schmidt would retire the next three batters to minimize damage in the frame, then get on a roll that saw the right-hander pitch through the seventh and allow the Grizzlies' offense to get just two more runners on base. Schmidt finished with seven innings pitched, striking out five against two walks while retiring 18 of the final 20 hitters he faced for his third consecutive win.
Meanwhile, the Miners' offense added insurance in the middle innings. Yeltsin Gudiño singled in two runs in the bottom of the fifth and made the score 5-2, and John Cable followed in the next inning with an RBI single of his own for a 6-2 lead. An error by Gateway third baseman Jay Prather after an infield hit by Walters in the seventh with two outs brought home the Miners' final run of the night, while the Grizzlies were able to score a run on a balk in the top of the eighth by Jose Fuentes, but get no closer as Southern Illinois recorded the series sweep.
Gudiño led the offense by going 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBIs while Cable also finished 2-for-4 with a double, run scored, and RBI as the Miners won for the seventh time in their last nine games overall to get back to the .500 mark at 13-13 on the season.
The Miners will next face off against the Evansville Otters in a weekend series in Marion beginning on Friday, June 25, at 7:05 p.m. Reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Week Michael Austin will make his Rent One Park debut in a Miners uniform in the series opener, while the Otters will have right-hander Polo Portela on the mound opposing him.
Frontier League Stories from June 24, 2021
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- Otters' Win Streak Snapped by Extra-Inning Loss - Evansville Otters
- Miners Sweep Grizzlies in Doubleheader - Southern Illinois Miners
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