FLORENCE, KY–The River City Rascals suffered a blowout loss for the second straight night to close out their series against the Florence Freedom on Thursday night at UC Health Stadium, suffering the series sweep in a 9-2 loss. The Freedom hit five homers in the game, with two each from Skylar Ewing and Jordan Brower. Florence starter Chuck Weaver was perfect through five innings. The loss puts the Rascals at .500 on the season for the first time since May.
The Freedom put up two runs in the first inning, on a two-run blast from Ewing. Keivan Berges added another two-run home run in the third inning, which was immedialely followed by a solo shot from Brower. The Freedom would jump out to the 8-0 after a pair of RBI doubles in the fourth and a Brower homer in the fifth. Ewing gave them their final run on Ewing’s second home run in the seventh inning.
The Rascals were held without a baserunner until the sixth inning, when Zach Lavy reached second base on an error on the Freedom right fielder. He came into score on the team’s first hit of the night, an RBI single up the middle from Kevin Suarez. After Paul Kronenfeld delivered a two-out double in the seventh, he came in to score on Clint Freeman‘s RBI single.
Caleb Lopes, who had two doubles, and Brower each had three hits on the night for the Freedom.
Rascals starter Justin Garcia (1-1) allowed seven runs in four innings, suffering the loss. Weaver (4-4) took the win, allowing one earned run in seven innings, while striking out four.
The Rascals (38-38) now head to Normal, IL for a crucial three-game series with the Normal CornBelters beginning Friday night at the Corn Crib, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm CT. Dan Ludwig is expected to make the start for the Rascals in his return from the injured reserve.
