Miners Win Third Straight, Sweep River City
Published on July 27, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, IL - The Southern Illinois Miners won their third consecutive game on Thursday night at Rent One Park in Marion, sweeping the River City Rascals with a 3-2 result and pulling within a game of first place in the Frontier League's West Division in front of over 4,000 fans on Stand Up For Blue Night.
After Geno Encina and River City lefty Hector Hernandez pitched two scoreless innings each, Southern Illinois broke in front in the third when Joe Duncan singled and scored all the way from first base on an RBI double by Romeo Cortina for a 1-0 lead. The Rascals would knot the score in the next inning, as after Clint Freeman was thrown out at the plate on a double by Mike Jurgella for the second out of the top of the fourth, Jurgella went to third base on the play and came home on a wild pitch from Encina (2-6).
But the Miners answered off Hernandez (8-4), as with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Jake Willsey worked a walk and Max Dutto smacked his first homer as a Miner over the wall in the right field corner, a two-run shot that gave the Miners the lead at 3-1.
That would also prove to be the game-winning hit. Encina pitched six innings and allowed only one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. The Rascals got closer on an RBI single by Ransom LaLonde with two outs in the seventh, making it a 3-2 ballgame. But the Miners' bullpen held the advantage- Nick Durazo pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Zach Hartman came on for the ninth and wiggled out of a jam. With the tying run in scoring position, the potential lead run at first base and only one out, he struck out Zach Lavy and got LaLonde to ground out to a sliding Dutto at shortstop to end the game.
Duncan and Cortina each had a double and two hits in going 2-for-4 in the game, while Dutto finished 1-for-3 with his home run and two RBIs, as Southern Illinois took all three games from their rivals in Marion to pull within one game of the first place Rascals.
The Miners will look to continue their winning ways on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. when they host the Florence Freedom in the opener of a four-game series at Rent One Park. Aaron Rozek will get the ball for Southern Illinois against Florence's Chuck Weaver.
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.
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