O’FALLON, MO–The River City Rascals defeated the Normal CornBelters 12-9 on Friday night at CarShield Field, taking the series opener behind a three-home run, eight RBI performance from Paul Kronenfeld. The three home runs tied a Frontier League record and the eight RBIs were one shy of the league record, and set a team record.
The Rascals jumped out to an 11-0 lead, after scoring four in the first and seven in the second. After Mike Jurgella singled in the game’s first run, Kronenfeld hit a three-run blast to make it 4-0. In the second, the Rascals got three straight hits to begin the frame, and later got a grand slam from Kronenfeld.
After the CornBelters put up four runs each in the fourth and sixth inning, Kronenfeld hit his third home run with two outs in the sixth. Chris Iriart led-off the top of the ninth with a homer for Normal, moving into the league lead in the category with 22 on the season.
Both teams recorded 13 hits on the night, and Santiago Chirino drove in three runs for the CornBelters, including a two-run double in the sixth inning. Both Trevor Achenbach of the Rascals and Derrick Loveless of the Belters hit triples in the game, with Loveless’ bringing in a run in the sixth inning.
Josh Kimborowicz (6-4) earned the win for the Rascals, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing five earned runs, walking three and striking out four. Jacinto Garcia (5-4) took the loss for the CornBelters, allowing nine earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. Anthony Herrera gave the Belters 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.
The Rascals (42-41) look to take the 2-0 series lead over the CornBelters (43-36) tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm CT. Hector Hernandez will make the start for the Rascals and will be opposed by Zack Kirby of the Belters.
