From the Southern Illinois Miners
CRESTWOOD, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners bounced back on Friday night in Crestwood, Illinois against the Windy City ThunderBolts, rallying for three runs in the top of the ninth inning to break a scoreless tie and earn a 3-0 win at Standard Bank Stadium to snap a four-game losing streak.
Miners righthander Tyler Stubblefield who pitched eight shutout innings for the win against Windy City (Miners photo)
The game was a pitcher’s duel throughout as both Tyler Stubblefield and Windy City’s T.J. Santiago pitched scoreless baseball for the first eight innings. The Miners got two singles in a row against Santiago in the first inning, but could not score, while Stubblefield (5-1) walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning, but got a double-play groundout from Coco Johnson immediately thereafter to get out of that frame with no runs on the board.
Both starting pitchers settled down in the middle of the game, with Santiago retiring 14 Miners in a row between the first and fifth innings and Stubblefield retiring 10 ThunderBolts in a row between the third and seventh. Both hurlers finished the game with eight shutout innings, three singles allowed, one walk and three strikeouts, and both also threw 90 pitches in the effort.
But it was Southern Illinois who broke through in the top of the ninth against Scott Kuzminsky (2-1). Craig Massey led off the frame with a single and two batters later moved to second base on Ryan Lashley‘s infield hit. Nolan Earley then drove in Massey with the go-ahead run on a single to left-center field to finally break up the scoreless game and give the Miners a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Kurt Wertz, Jr. provided insurance when he doubled over Johnson’s head in left field to plate Lashley and Earley and make the lead 3-0.
John Werner then pitched a flawless ninth inning for his tenth save of the season as the Miners got back on the winning track. Earley finished with two hits in the contest to extend his hitting streak out to 12 in a row while Lashley also netted two hits in the contest for the Miners. Stubblefield’s effort also earned him his fourth straight victory on the hill as the Miners took the series opener in the first meeting of the year between the two ballclubs.
The Miners will go for a series win on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. back at Standard Bank Stadium against the ThunderBolts, with Chris Washington pitching for the Miners and Jake Fisher taking the hill for Windy City.
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.
NOTE: A box score is unavailable this morning. The Frontier League Website is down.
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