(Courtesy Southern Illinois Miners)
The Southern Illinois Miners rode three RBI from Chris Burke and a strong effort from their bullpen to their ninth win in a row, 4-3, over the Schaumburg Boomers on Friday night at Boomers Stadium on the road. The win streak is now the longest for the Miners since 2010, when the team won a Frontier League-record 20 games in a row.
Southern Illinois jumped in front in the first on three straight singles from Frank Martinez, Jared McDonald and Burke, the last driving in a run to make it 1-0 Southern Illinois. They would score two more runs in the fifth inning, as Burke lined his second hit of the day off Schaumburg starter Rey Rodriguez to left field with the bases loaded and two outs, scoring Tyler Booth and Jon Eisen to give the road team a 3-0 lead.
The Boomers scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the sixth. After the Miners tacked on one more in the top of the inning, an error, a walk and two singles against Miners starter Tyler Lavigne, who had given up just one hit through the first five innings, loaded the bases and plated one run to make it 4-1 Miners.
Then, after a sacrifice fly, Matt Miller came in out of the bullpen. Following a bunt single that plated the third Schaumburg run, the sidearmer induced an inning-ending double play to end the threat. Miller would toss the next two innings as well, holding the Boomers at bay both times.
After a leadoff walk against closer Derrick Miramontes put the tying run on base in the ninth, the right-hander retired the next three batters for his fifth save. Burke and Booth each went 2-for-4 to pace the Miners offense, while Lavigne got the win with 5 1/3 innings of work.
Southern Illinois will go for the series win on Saturday, with Matt Bywater going up against Cal Bowling at 6:00 p.m. at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg.
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.
