Normal Falls in Series Fianle
June 28, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
Normal CornBelters bat against the River City Rascals
(Normal CornBelters)
NORMAL, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters (18-21) had plenty of chances to sweep the River City Rascals (22-20) as the brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but fell 3-1 in the series finale on Thursday night.
Coming off his 11strikeout performance at Gateway, Ryan Lawlor (0-2) picked up right where he left off, but got the short end of the stick tonight. The lefty went six innings for the second straight start and limited the Rascals to just two earned runs while striking out eight batters. The former Braves farmhand has 31 strikeouts in just 20 innings of work this season with only five walks.
In the second, Lawlor struck out the first two batters he faced, however, River City used some two-out hitting to take a 1-0 lead. The Rascals took advantage off an error from Lawlor that moved a runner to third and came around to score on a 6-4-3 double play to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Andrew Godbold got the Normal offense going with a leadoff home run in the fourth to cut the deficit in half. The opposite-field dinger was his fifth home run of the season and has homered in the last four series.
Once again, the Belter bullpen shut down the opposition. Nick Bozman struck out two in the seventh and lowered his ERA to 1.88 (team-leading). Jonathan de Marte copied Bozman and fanned two Rascals in the eighth. In his team-leading 19th appearance, Antony Herrera got out of a jam in the ninth to shutout River City for the third straight inning.
Normal had plenty of chances to tie the game as they had runners reach in seven innings including bringing the red-hot Chris Iriart to plate as the tying run in the ninth but couldn't piece it together.
Despite falling in the series finale, Normal takes their second straight series in a row and are now 5-1 against the Rascals this season.
The CornBelters continue their homestand tomorrow with the first day of "Jose Canseco Weekend" presented by the Town of Normal. Former Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco will serve as the Normal CornBelters' designated hitter for the weekend. The gates will open at 6:05 p.m. for all fans, but will feature an early access period beginning at 5:05 for fans who bring $1 to donate to Wish Bone Canine Rescue. These fans will be able to watch the CornBelters' batting practice and Canseco warm up prior to the game.
Images from this story
 Normal CornBelters bat against the River City Rascals |
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