Martin Lifts Miners To Series Win At Gateway

From the Southern Illinois Miners

SAUGET, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners came back from a 2-0 early deficit on Wednesday night against the Gateway Grizzlies to clinch the series with a 4-3 win at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, going ahead for good on Willi Martin‘s pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning and holding that lead late in their eighth win in their last 11 contests.

After a scoreless first two frames, Austin Dubsky ran into trouble in the third inning, and Gateway was able to score two runs on RBI singles by Brent Sakurai and Terry McClure to take a 2-0 lead. On the Gateway side, Will Anderson held the Miners’ bats at bay through the first five innings, with Corey Sessions matching him in relief of Dubsky.

The Miners then surged ahead in the sixth inning, as Brett Wiley led off the frame with a double before being singled home by Craig Massoni to make it 2-1 Gateway. After Kurt Wertz, Jr. worked a walk, Nolan Earley then came through with a game-tying RBI double off the left field wall to score Massoni and knot the game at 2-2, chasing Anderson from the game. With runners at second and third base, Zach Taylor then hit a ground ball to former Miner Joel McKeithan at third base, which brought home the go-ahead run and made it 3-2 Southern Illinois.

Gateway would tie the game in the sixth when with the bases loaded and none out, Dan Holst hit an RBI groundout of his own to second base to make it 3-3, but Sessions was able to keep the game tied. The Miners then took the lead for good in the seventh inning, when with Wiley on second base and two outs, Martin was called upon off the bench to pinch-hit, and he delivered a single into right-center field that plated Wiley with the eventual winning run and made it 4-3.

Southern Illinois’ bullpen again made the late lead stand up, with John Werner striking out the side in the ninth inning for the second time in as many nights to nail down the victory. The Miners will next go for the road sweep in the series finale on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m., with Zach Cooper taking the mound against Gateway’s Will Landsheft.

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
2B: B.Wiley (2), N.Earley (5), R.Sluder (1).
RBI: C.Massoni (28), W.Martin (12), N.Earley (16), Z.Taylor (2).
Team LOB: 12.

Fielding  A: C.Massey 4 (90), R.Lashley 2 (51), B.Wiley 3 (22), Z.Taylor 2 (3), B.Moore (14), C.Sessions (7).  DP: 1 (B. Wiley(2B) – C. Massey(SS) – C. Massoni(1B)).  E: C.Sessions (1).  PO: C.Massey 2 (72), B.Wiley (17), C.Massoni 11 (19), K.Wertz Jr. 3 (17), N.Earley (62), Z.Taylor 7 (21), B.Moore 2 (224).
SBA: Z.Taylor (2).
TC: C.Massey 6 (164), R.Lashley 2 (74), B.Wiley 4 (44), C.Massoni 11 (20), K.Wertz Jr. 3 (19), N.Earley (66), Z.Taylor 9 (24), B.Moore 3 (239), C.Sessions 2 (11).

Batting
RBI: B.Sakurai (1), T.McClure (20), D.Holst (1).  SB: B.Brown (5).
Team LOB: 9.

Fielding
A: M.Hearn (17), B.Sakurai 2 (14), J.McKeithan 7 (14), M.Bartlett 4 (12).
DP: 1 (B. Sakurai(2B) – M. Hearn(CF) – M. Hearn(CF) – J. Hranec(1B)).
E: B.Brown (1), J.Reynoso (2).  PO: M.Hearn 3 (79), B.Sakurai 3 (7), T.McClure 2 (48), J.Hranec 13 (77), B.Lees 6 (9).
TC: M.Hearn 4 (99), B.Sakurai 5 (22), B.Brown (39), T.McClure 2 (50), J.Hranec 13 (79), B.Lees 6 (10), J.McKeithan 7 (17), M.Bartlett 4 (24), J.Reynoso (5).

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
21	Dubsky, A	3.0	4	2	2	2	3	4.24
18	Sessions, C	3.1	5	1	1	0	3	4.63
1	Palacios, N	0.2	0	0	0	2	0	4.84
12	DeBoo, C	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	4.15
28	Werner, J	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	2.61
		9	9	3	3	5	10

Pitching
BF: A.Dubsky 14, C.Sessions 15, N.Palacios 4, C.DeBoo 3, J.Werner 3.
P-S: A.Dubsky 74-45, C.Sessions 49-34, N.Palacios 11-4, C.DeBoo 17-8, J.Werner 12-9.  WP: C.Sessions (1), N.Palacios (1).

Gateway
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
37	Anderson, W	5.1	7	3	3	3	2	5.36
22	Cable, T	1.1	1	1	1	2	1	3.00
27	Reynoso, J	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	2.19
10	Uhrich, K	1.0	0	0	0	2	3	3.00
		9	8	4	4	7	7

Pitching
BF: W.Anderson 25, T.Cable 8, J.Reynoso 5, K.Uhrich 5.
P-S: W.Anderson 105-63, T.Cable 29-15, J.Reynoso 25-18, K.Uhrich 23-12.
WP: T.Cable (1), J.Reynoso (1).