Early Runs Sink Miners At Normal

From the Southern Illinois Miners

NORMAL, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind in the first inning, and despite answering back right away in the next inning against the Normal CornBelters, could not get closer in a 5-2 loss at The Corn Crib on Wednesday night, the team’s third straight defeat.

For the second night in a row, the CornBelters batted around in the first inning, this time scoring four runs on three hits as well as a pair of errors by Culver Plant that made two of the runs unearned against Robby Rowland. This time, however, the Miners responded with two runs of their own in the very next half inning- Ryan Lashley doubled and Brett Wiley followed with a single to make the score 4-1. Three batters later, after a two-out single by James Alfonso kept the inning alive, Plant came through with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Rowland (0-2) then settled into a groove on the mound, retiring 12 straight batters and 13 of the next 14 Normal hitters to come to the plate. Two batters into the sixth inning, a solo home run by Jesus Solorzano extended the CornBelters’ lead to 5-2, but Rowland finished with a quality start of three earned runs allowed on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Unfortunately, the Miners’ offense again struggled overall against Scott Sebald (8-1), who pitched seven innings and permitted seven hits and two runs to earn his second-straight win against Southern Illinois. In the eighth, against Chad Gendron, Craig Massoni walked and Lashley singled to put the tying run at the plate, but Southern Illinois got no runs in the inning.

Lashley finished 3-for-4 in the game with two doubles and a run scored while Wiley and Plant both went 2-for-4 with Wiley scoring and driving in one run to pace the Miners at the plate.
Southern Illinois will look to salvage the series finale on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m., with Corey Sessions pitching for the Miners against Normal’s Edgar De La Rosa.

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.