September 4 Florence Freedom Game Notes
September 4, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE FREEDOM (48-45) @ SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MINERS (61-32)
Friday, September 4, 2015 - 8:05 p.m. ET
Rent One Park - Marion, IL
Game #94 - Road Game #43 (48-45), (23-19)
LHP #8 Patrick McGrath (2-2, 2.62 ERA) vs. RHP #3 Adam Lopez (10-0, 1.91 ERA)
Last time out...
Jeremy Gooding tossed seven innings of one-run ball as the Freedom took the rubber match with the Windy City ThunderBolts on Thursday by a score of 3-1. Florence got on the board in the second against Windy City starter Jake Fisher (5-7) as Andrew Godbold got things started with a double. Isaac Wenrich bunted him to third. Travis Weaver followed with a grounder to short. Windy City had the infield in and threw Weaver out at first. Godbold scored anyways as he beat the throw home from first baseball Austin Gallagher. Steve Carrillo kept the inning going with a single to right. Daniel Fraga followed with a single of his own and Zac Mitchell singled home Carrillo to extend the lead to 2-0. Coco Johnson homered in the third to cut the Freedom advantage to 2-1. Florence responded right away in the bottom of the third. Austin Newell doubled to start the frame. Two outs later Andrew Godbold singled him home as Florence increased their lead to 3-1.
For Starters...
Patrick McGrath makes his 8th start of the season tonight for the Freedom. He is coming off a dominating performance against the Frontier Greys on August 30, going five innings of shutout ball while allowing only one hit in a 5-0 win. McGrath faced the Miners in his professional debut on July 25. He took the loss, going four innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits, in a 3-2 defeat. McGrath led the Ohio Valley Conference in wins in 2015 with Belmont University as he posted a 9-4 record with a 4.40 ERA in 17 appearances, 13 starts. He garnered national attention when he beat SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt University twice.
The playoff chase...
If the season ended today the Freedom would be in the playoffs. The Freedom are currently tied with the Evansville Otters and Rockford Aviators for the final spot in the Frontier League playoffs with three games to play. Evansville and Florence hold the tiebreaker over Rockford if the season were to end in a three-way tie.
Against the Miners...
The final regular season series of the year marks the Freedom's first and only visit to Rent One Park. Florence has already played the Miners in two series at UC Health Stadium this season, going 2-4 as they dropped two out of three games each time. In their most recent series (July 24-26) against the Miners all three games were decided by one run.
A big challenge...
The Freedom face 2015 Frontier League Pitcher of the Year Adam Lopez tonight. He is 10-0 and the Miners have won all 15 games he's started this season. He beat the Freedom on July 25, going six shutout innings and only allowing one hit as the Freedom fell 3-2.
Organization of the Year!
The Freedom were named the 2015 Frontier League Organization of the Year in a vote by the league's General Managers. Freedom GM Josh Anderson won Executive of the Year in the FL.
Run and run some more...
The Freedom's 141 stolen bases are second to the River City Rascals (146) in the Frontier League.
Get that lead...
When the Freedom lead after seven innings they have a record of 39-2. However they are only 2-37 when trailing after seven innings.
Getting on base...
Frazier Hall is fitting right in with the Freedom's philosophy of working the count. Through 24 games with Florence he's drawn 19 walks and has a team-high .433 OBP. Overall, the Freedom have drawn 339 walks this season, the fourth most in the league.
Five or more...
Florence is 35-4 when scoring five or more runs in a game this season.
Offensive revival...
After only hitting .223 as a team in the month of July, the Freedom hit .268 as a team in August. Sam Eberle led the way as usual last month with a .361 average, 3 HR and 17 RBI.
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Frontier League Stories from September 4, 2015
- Miners Walk off on Gates' Homer to Beat Florence - Southern Illinois Miners
- Garza Leads Slammers in 9-4 Win - Joliet Slammers
- Slammers Take Series Opener, 9-4 - Rockford Aviators
- Thompson Dazzles in Final Outing as Grizzlies Cruise to Another Win - Gateway Grizzlies
- Missed Opportunities Doom Freedom - Florence Y'alls
- Otters Lose 10-2 for Longest Losing Streak of Season, But Still Control Own Destiny - Evansville Otters
- Boomers Drop Opener of Final Series - Schaumburg Boomers
- CornBelters Hold off Late Boomers Rallies for 8th Straight Win - Normal CornBelters
- Windy City Comes Back to Beat Washington 9-6 - Washington Wild Things
- ThunderBolts Come from Behind for 9-6 Win - Windy City ThunderBolts
- September 4 Florence Freedom Game Notes - Florence Y'alls
- Otters Control Own Destiny Heading Into Final Weekend of Season - Evansville Otters
- Miners Swept at Gateway - Southern Illinois Miners
- Normal CornBelters Game Tonight - Normal CornBelters
- Aviators Complete Sweep of Greys - Rockford Aviators
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