Sports stats

FL River City Rascals

Rascals Outscore CornBelters 18-1 in Double Header

August 13, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


The River City Rascals put up 18 runs on 24 hits en route to a double header sweep against the Normal CornBelters Saturday night at the Corn Crib. The Rascals (37-39) won game one by a score of 8-1 and finished the night with a 10-0 win. The double header sweep gave the Rascals their second series win against the CornBelters (39-37) this year and made up some ground in the wild card race, trailing the Belters and Grizzlies by just two games. Game One

Austin Warner turned in his second solid start in a row lasting five innings allowing just one run on five hits and struck out four. The performance was good for his second professional win and he lowered his ERA to 3.74.

Offensively for the Rascals, they went up against CornBelters starter Horatio Acosta who entered the day with a 7-2 record and a 3.11 ERA.

Acosta faced the minimum through the first two innings and then the Rascals began the third frame with a leadoff single from Mike Jurgella. After stealing second, he was retired trying to advance to third on a ground ball to the left side of the infield.

With Jurgella being retired, it caused Jason Merjano to reach on a fielder's choice and he would get into scoring position on a stolen base of his own off catcher Dylan Kelly. Robby Enslen walked and then the Rascals got on the board first when Merjano came home to score via a RBI double from Alexi Colon.

The offense continued to pound out hits in the fourth inning as Enslen made it 3-0 with a two RBI single and Alexi Colon put an exclamation point on the inning with a three run home run that just stayed fair of the right field foul pole to extend the Rascals lead to 6-0.

That was the final inning for Belters starter Acosta and he left in line for his third loss of the year, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks.

Normal's Manager Brooks Carey went to Matthew Chavarria and he would go on to throw the rest of the way, retiring the side in order his first two innings and then was charged for two earned runs in the seventh inning as Josh Silver ripped a two run double down the third base line to get the Rascals their eighth run. The double also extended Josh Silvers reached base streak to 16 games.

Rascal's starter Austin Warner got the win lasting five innings and allowed just one run, a solo home run from Nolan Meadows in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Jason Zgardowski tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh while striking out a pair to complete the Rascals game one victory.

Game Two

Getting the start for the Rascals was Joe Pavlovich and he was stellar earning his first complete game shutout of his professional career. He tossed 117 pitches in seven innings while allowing six scattered hits and struck out four. The win also marks his first professional season with three wins and he lowered his ERA to a 2.34.

While Pavlovich was great, his offense stayed hot going into the second game of the night and the Rascals batted around and scored six runs in the opening frame.

With one out, three consecutive singles loaded the bases and then CornBelters starter Mike Elwood hit Josh Ludy to allow his first of six first inning runs.

After a pop up, the other five runs were driven in via a two RBI single from Robby Enslen and a three run home run from Jason Merjano.

Elwood's last batter of the game was Alexi Colon and then he was replaced for the start of the second inning.

The first reliever of the game for Normal was lefty Max Homick and after retiring the side in order in the second, the Rascals added some more runs to their lead via a two RBI doube from Robby Enslen to give his team an eight run advantage.

Alexi Colon made it 9-0 with a RBI double of his own and then the Rascals tenth run came home to score on a RBI single from Mike Jurgella in the top of the fourth.

River City didn't score in the final three frames but they did tack on one more hit, a one out double from Alexi Colon in the top of the fifth inning.

Overall, the Rascals finished the game with 10 runs on 15 hits and got huge nights from the bottom of the order.

Mike Jurgella, Jason Merjano and Robby Enslen each had three hits and drove in a combined eight runs.

The Rascals offense looks to continue their dominance Sunday afternoon as they got for a series sweep and get to one game under .500 on the year.

First pitch is scheduled for 4:35 with Zeb Sneed on the mound.

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics



Frontier League Stories from August 13, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent River City Rascals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central