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(Courtesy Southern Illinois Miners; Photo Credit: Jonathan LeBlond)
The Southern Illinois Miners got strong pitching from southpaw Matt Bywater (3-1) and backed it up with six runs in the final three turns at bat in a 7-1 victory over the Frontier Greys at Rent One Park on Wednesday night.
Bywater pitched arguably his best start of the season, going eight innings and giving up just five hits and one earned run- a solo home run by Chris Ellison- while walking only two and striking out eight, a new season-best for any pitcher for Southern Illinois in 2014.
The Miners took the lead first on a two-out RBI single by Chris Burke in the third that plated Jay Austin to make it 1-0. Ellison’s homer in the top of the sixth tied the ballgame up, however, before the Miners rallied in the bottom of the inning against Greys starter Keith Picht (0-4).
Aaron Gates led off with a walk, and was advanced to second on a fly ball to deep right-center by Burke. Frank Martinez then beat out a slow grounder to Greys third baseman Greg Bachman, with Bachman throwing high and into the crowd and allowing Gates to score, giving the Miners a 2-1 lead.
Steve Marino and Jared McDonald then followed with singles, with the latter scoring Martinez to make it 3-1. After a pop-out for the second out, the Greys made a pitching change, and Ryan Cavan greeted Jacob Liedka with a booming double off the left field wall, bringing home both runners for a 5-1 Miners lead.
Southern Illinois would tack on two more in the eighth inning for the final margin, ending the Greys’ five-game winning streak and evening the series at one game apiece. Martinez ended up with three hits, and Burke and Austin each contributed two hits in the win.
The Miners will look to take the series in the finale on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m., with Miguel Ramirez on the hill against the Greys’ Clint Wright.
