Miners Erupt In Seventh To Down CornBelters

The Southern Illinois Miners came back from a 4-0 deficit with one big inning, scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh and adding two more in the eighth in a 10-8 win over the Normal CornBelters at The Corn Crib in Normal.

In the first inning, Aaron Dudley’s three-run home run gave Normal a 3-0 lead, but Ethan Gibbons would settle down in the subsequent innings, permitting no runs until the sixth while striking out a career-best eight batters. An RBI single by Justin Fletcher with two outs in the sixth chased Gibbons from the game, but Kyle Tinius (2-0) struck out Ty Morris looking to strand two more runners on base as the game moved to the seventh inning.

Miners 1B Justin Chigbogu at the plate in last night’s win at Normal.

Southern Illinois, which had been held to no runs on two hits by CornBelters starter Julio Vivas, began the comeback with three straight singles by Justin Chigbogu, Billy Germaine and Joel McKeithan, with the latter’s RBI hit getting the Miners on the board and making it 4-1. London Lindley followed by reaching base thanks to an error by Dudley on a sacrifice bunt, allowing Germaine to score and make it 4-2, chasing Vivas from the contest. Craig Massey then tied the score at 4-4 by lining a two-run triple to left-center field off reliever Brandon Maddern (0-1). A Nolan Earley sacrifice fly brought Massey home and gave the Miners a 5-4 lead.

But the visitors weren’t done. After Christopher Long recorded the second out of the inning, Marc Flores and Ben Moore each singled, setting up Chigbogu, who blasted a deep three-run homer to right field to cap off the eight-run outburst.

In the eighth, an RBI double by Earley and an RBI fielder’s choice by Ryan Lashley, with Massey avoiding the tag of the catcher at home plate on the latter, made the score 10-5. Normal rallied for a run in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Miguel Torres and then got three more runs in the ninth on another three-run homer by Dudley, but it was not enough as the Miners snapped a four-game slide while also ending the CornBelters’ six-game win streak.

Chigbogu finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs while Massey and Earley finished with two RBIs apiece. Lindley ended the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored as well, with eight of the nine batters in the Southern Illinois order getting at least one hit and seven of the nine scoring at least one run.

The Miners will look for back-to-back victories on Saturday in the second game of the series at The Corn Crib at 6:35 p.m. Payton Lobdell will pitch for the Miners against Normal’s Charlie Gillies.