From the Southern Illinois Miners

MARION, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners vaulted out to an early lead on Thursday night against the Schaumburg Boomers at Rent One Park, and led the entire game while turning away two late pushes by the visitors in a 5-3 victory, taking the midweek series in Marion two games to one.

The Miners got started right away in the bottom of the first against Schaumburg starter Lars Liguori (5-3) after Matt Parish retired the Boomers in order in the top half of the inning. Brett Wiley and Romeo Cortina led off with singles and Craig Massey hit into a fielder’s choice with all runners being safe on the play to make it 1-0. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lashley made the score 2-0, and Ben Moore followed up with a two-out RBI single for a 3-0 cushion.

Miners 3B Craig Massoni smacks a two run homer in last nights win over Schaumburg (SI Miners photo)

Parish (2-1) would dominate on the hill early in the contest, permitting just one baserunner in the first three innings while facing the minimum nine total batters. The right-hander would finish with a quality start, allowing two runs on six hits in six and one-third innings. In the bottom of the third inning, the Miners got him more run support- after Massey reached on an error by the shortstop Josh Gardiner, Craig Massoni smacked a two-run homer to right field into the visiting bullpen, his seventh of the season and second with the Miners, to push the lead out to 5-0.

That would go down as the game-winning hit for Southern Illinois, and the Boomers would score single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to make it a 5-2 ballgame. In the seventh, Parish departed after walking the leadoff man and hitting Gardiner with a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate, but Austin Dubsky got the Miners out of trouble with no runs allowed.

After a scoreless eighth inning by Kyle Grana, the Boomers would score an unearned run with a two-out rally in the ninth. After John Werner struck out the first two men he faced, an error by Massey extended the game, and the Boomers’ next three batters reached base, with Jack Parenty’s bases-loaded walk making the score 5-3. Werner, however, got Kyle Ruchim to pop out to right field to end the game and give the Miners the series victory.

Southern Illinois will look to make it three wins in a row when they continue their nine-game homestand on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Windy City ThunderBolts. Tyler Stubblefield will take the hill for the Miners in the series opener while Zac Westcott will pitch in the game 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.