(Press Release)
The Southern Illinois Miners beat the Normal CornBelters 5-4 in 12 innings on a walk-off RBI single by Chris Burke capping a long game at Rent One Park and giving the Miners their fourth win in a row, fifth in their last six games, and first in extra-innings this season.
In the 12th, with both bullpens allowing baserunners almost every inning, Sundrendy Windster led off with a single to center off the glove of Normal second baseman Santiago Chirino. It was Windster’s first at-bat after coming in as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning.
Then, a wild pitch by Normal reliever Chuck Ghysels moved Windster to second base. Jose Gonzalez then laid down a sacrifice bunt that the pitcher fielded, but his throw to first pulled a covering Chirino off the bag. Windster moved to third, and Burke blooped his walk-off hit down the right field line to win it for Southern Illinois on the next pitch.
The win clinched the series victory for the Miners, their third series win in a row. It was also the longest game of the season for Southern Illinois in terms of both time elapsed (four hours, eleven minutes) and innings.
The Miners had to come back from an early deficit against Normal in the game. Trailing 2-0 entering the fourth, they got a sacrifice fly by Aaron Gates to make the score 2-1, and then after Tyler Booth tripled to lead off the fifth inning, Jon Eisen drove him in with a game-tying RBI single.
Southern Illinois would chase starter Drew Provence in the sixth inning. After Frank Martinez led off with a double, he was moved to third on a groundout. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Steve Marino worked a walk, and Booth rocketed another triple to right-center to plate both runners and give the Miners a 4-2 lead.
Normal would come back in the seventh to plate the tying runs on an RBI triple by Mike Schwartz and an RBI single by RIchard Lucas before it was turned over to the bullpens. From the eighth inning onward, each team had at least one baserunner in every inning but one before Burke won it in the 12th.
Derrick Miramontes (1-0) pitched the final three innings for the Miners to earn the win, while Ghysels (0-2) took the loss. Burke and Booth finished with two hits apiece for Southern Illinois, with Booth driving in two runs.
The Miners will go for the three-game sweep of the CornBelters on Sunday night at 5:05 p.m. Matt Bywater will start for Southern Illinois, while Michael Schweiss will get the nod for Normal.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2012 Frontier League Champions and have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception. They also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, please contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
