Late Homer Sinks Miners In Evansville Saturday night

From the Southern Illinois Miners

Miners RH Zack Cooper in a recent start at Rent One Park

EVANSVILLE, IN – The Southern Illinois Miners got a brilliant, seven-inning start by Zach Cooper on the mound, but after he departed in the eighth, the Evansville Otters took the lead on a home run by Kolten Yamaguchi as Southern Illinois fell 3-1 on Saturday night at Bosse Field in Evansville.

Cooper’s only run allowed came in the first inning. The Otters loaded the bases with no one out on an infield hit, a single and a hit batter. Alejandro Segovia then lined out to Marc Flores at first base, and Flores stepped on first to double off Dane Phillips before attempting a throw to second for a possible triple play. His throw was errant, however, and the runner at third came in to score for a 1-0 Otters lead. Cooper, though, struck out John Schultz to keep the damage to just the lone unearned run.

It would be the only run he permitted across seven innings of work, surrendering four hits and one walk with two hit batters, but also striking out six to keep Evansville at bay. Meanwhile, the Miners evened the score in the top of the fifth inning. After London Lindley walked to lead off against Otters starter Felix Baez, Craig Massey singled him to third base. After a flyout, Ryan Lashley hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knot the game up at 1-1.

It would stay tied until the bottom of the eighth, when after a single by Josh Allen with one out against Chris DeBoo (0-1), Yamaguchi hit a go-ahead, two-run home run that stayed just fair inside the right field foul pole to give the Otters a 3-1 lead. In the top of the ninth, with two outs, Lindley walked again and Massey singled off Otters closer Randy McCurry, putting the tying run on first base, but a strikeout ended the game.

The Miners and Otters will finish the series with a doubleheader on Sunday night beginning at 4:05 p.m. at Bosse Field. Ethan Gibbons will pitch for the Miners in the first game against Evansville’s Max Duval, while Tyler Stubblefield will toe the rubber in the second game, opposed by the Otters’ Diego Ibarra.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. 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 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting
RBI: R.Lashley (29).  SF: R.Lashley (3).  CS: C.Massey (2).
SB: K.Wertz Jr. (1), B.Moore (4).  Team LOB: 10.

Fielding  A: C.Massey 2 (82), B.Wiley (15), B.Moore (13), M.Flores (2), C.DeBoo (2).  DP: 1 (M. Flores(1B)).  E: M.Flores (2).  PO: C.Massey 2 (68), R.Lashley (14), B.Moore 6 (206), N.Earley (58), R.Sluder 2 (2), M.Flores 8 (57), L.Lindley 3 (91), Z.Cooper (4).  TC: C.Massey 4 (152), B.Wiley (33), R.Lashley (68), B.Moore 7 (220), N.Earley (61), R.Sluder 2 (2), M.Flores 10 (61), L.Lindley 3 (92), C.DeBoo (2), Z.Cooper (6).

Batting  HP: D.Phillips 2 (4).  HR: K.Yamaguchi (1).
RBI: K.Yamaguchi 2 (4).  Team LOB: 7.

Fielding  A: J.Allen 4 (93), A.Segovia (13), N.Walker (1), J.Broussard 2 (2), F.Baez (5).  CS: D.Phillips (1).  DP: 1 (F. Baez(P) – A. Segovia(1B)).
E: C.Riopedre (6).  PO: M.De Jesus (10), D.Phillips 8 (225), K.Yamaguchi 3 (51), A.Segovia 8 (107), J.Schultz 2 (34), B.Soat (53), N.Walker (1), J.Broussard (3), F.Baez (1).  SBA: D.Phillips 3 (39).  TC: M.De Jesus (10), J.Allen 4 (157), D.Phillips 8 (244), K.Yamaguchi 3 (56), A.Segovia 9 (122), J.Schultz 2 (37), C.Riopedre (128), B.Soat (58), N.Walker 2 (2), J.Broussard 3 (5), F.Baez 2 (8).

Pitching Stats

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
39	Cooper, Z	7.0	4	1	0	1	6	4.89
12	DeBoo, C	0.2	2	2	2	1	0	4.50
21	Dubsky, A	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	3.86
		8	7	3	2	2	6

Pitching
BF: Z.Cooper 26, C.DeBoo 5, A.Dubsky 2.  P-S: Z.Cooper 103-60, C.DeBoo 28-16, A.Dubsky 4-2.

Evansville
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
21	Baez, F	6.0	5	1	1	5	7	5.08
46	Broussard, J	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	2.33
29	McCurry, R	1.0	1	0	0	1	2	5.73
		9	6	1	1	7	10

Pitching
BF: F.Baez 26, J.Broussard 7, R.McCurry 5.
P-S: F.Baez 109-60, J.Broussard 30-18, R.McCurry 23-15