Home Baseball Southern Illinois sweeps River City for the first time since 2012

Southern Illinois sweeps River City for the first time since 2012

by Jason Guerette

The Southern Illinois Miners dominated from start to finish, riding another strong start from Adam Lopez and a season-high 13 hits to defeat the River City Rascals 7-1 at Rent One Park. With the win, the Miners sweep a series from their former division rivals for the first time since July 3rd-5th, 2012, and match their best six-game start in franchise history at 5-1.

It was Lopez (2-0) who set the tone for the Miners all night on the mound. The right-hander scattered just four hits in seven innings of shutout baseball, striking out five without recording a single walk to earn his second win in as many starts.

The Miners got on the board offensively in the third, when Aaron Gates singled, stole second, moved to third on a single by Michael Earley and then scored on a wild pitch by Clint Wright (0-1) to make it 1-0 Miners. Southern Illinois would tack on two more in the fifth, with a double-play with the bases loaded and no one out by Niko Vasquez and an RBI single by Jon Minucci to make it 3-0 Miners.

They would tack on again against the River City bullpen. Back-to-back doubles by Vasquez and Riley in the seventh made it 4-0, and then the Miners put the game away with three more in the eighth. Gates led off with a triple (his second in three games and third of his career) before Frank Martinez walked. Earley then blasted a two-run triple, his fourth hit of the game to tie a career-high, to left-center for a 6-0 lead before Wendell Fairley followed with a sacrifice fly for a 7-0 lead. River City would score once in the ninth to complete the scoring.

Earley went 4-for-5 on the game with two runs scored, a triple and two RBIs, while Gates went 3-for-5 with a triple as well as two runs scored and Riley put up a 3-for-4 night with an RBI and a double. The Miners’ seven runs tied a season-high and their 13 hits completed a series in which the Miners got 33 total hits in sweeping the visitors.

The Miners will continue their homestand on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the undefeated Rockford Aviators. Miguel Ramirez will take the ball for Southern Illinois against Rockford’s Tony Rizzotti.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2014 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.

+ posts

Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.

2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.

In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.

Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.

Related Articles