O’FALLON, MO–The River City Rascals suffered a disappointing loss on Wednesday night, losing the middle game of a three game series to the Normal CornBelters by a score of 7-2 at CarShield Field, and giving Normal the 2-0 series lead. The Belters were led by Derrick Loveless, who had two homers and four RBIs on the night. They also got a fine start from pitcher Scott Sebald (3-2), who pitched six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out eight Rascals hitters without issuing a walk. The Rascals left eight men on base, five of whom were in scoring position, while also striking out 14 times on the night.
Chris Iriart homered in the third inning to give the CornBelters an early 1-0 lead, and Andrew Godbold added an RBI single in the fourth. Loveless hit a three-run shot in the sixth, and after a Santiago Chirino sacrifice fly in the sixth, hit a solo home run in the eighth to put Normal up 7-0.
The Rascals got on the board in the eighth with a two-run blast to left field from Clint Freeman, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Mike Jurgella hit his Frontier League leading 10th double and finished with three hits in a losing effort for River City. Rascals starter Dan Ludwig (1-3) allowed five runs in 5.1 innings, and struck out six without allowing a walk to the Belters.
The Rascals (14-8) look to avoid the sweep at the hands of the CornBelters (10-12) in the series finale tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm CT. Scott Grist will start for the Rascals, and will be opposed by Matt Portland for Normal.
