O’FALLON, MO–The River City Rascals earned their third straight win on Tuesday night at CarShield Field, beating the Southern Illinois Miners by a score of 5-4 in the series opener on a walk-off single in the 10th inning from Paul Kronenfeld.
The Miners struck first, getting two runs in the first inning. Romeo Cortina hit an RBI single to left, and a second run scored on the play on an error by Kevin Suarez. The Rascals tied the game at 2-2 on JD Hearn’s two-run shot in the third, and took a 4-2 lead on Kronenfeld’s two-run homer in the fourth.
The Miners tied the game 4-4 in the fifth, on an RBI single from Kyle Davis and a wild pitch that scored Davis. The game remained tied until the bottom of the tenth, when Hearn reached on an error by the Miners’ Max Dutto and Trevor Achenbach was hit by a pitch. After the next two batters struck out, Kronenfeld hit a grounder just past second baseman Jake Willsey, allowing Hearn to score.
Jonny Ortiz took a no-decision for the Rascals, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing four runs, striking out six. Cody Mincey (5-2) took the win, pitching the final two innings without allowing a hit and striking out three.
Miners starter Steven Ridings also had a no-decision, allowing four runs in six innings, striking out five. Reliever Zach Hartman (1-1) took the loss, allowing the winning run, though it was unearned.
Both Kronenfeld and the Miners’ Daniel Comstock finished with three hits on the night.
The Rascals (41-39) and Miners (39-37) play the middle game of their series tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm CT. Justin Garcia is expected to make the start for the Rascals.
