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(Courtesy Southern Illinois Miners; Photo Credit: Jonathan LeBlond)
The Southern Illinois Miners took an early lead, but the Evansville Otters scored six runs, three in the fourth and three in the fifth, to take the lead for good en route to a 9-3 win at Rent One Park. The Miners were denied in their bid to sweep their division rivals, but took the series two games to one.
A Chris Burke RBI groundout made it 1-0 Miners in the first inning against Evansville starter Robert Ramer. But after cruising through the first three innings with only one baserunner allowed, Tyler Lavigne could not hold the Otters down in the fourth, as following a single and a double, Shayne Houck hit his first of two homers, a three-run shot, to make it 3-1 Evansville.
Next inning, after two outs were recorded, Josh Allen walked and was driven home on an RBI double by Jeremy Nowak before Houck’s second homer, a two-run swing, to extend the lead out to 6-1.
The Miners got one run back in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Frank Martinez. Then, in the eighth, Southern Illinois loaded the bases with no one out. After reliever Jose Velez got a strikeout for the first out, Steve Marino drove in a run with a walk to make it 6-3. But the next two hitters would also strike out, ending the threat. Evansville tacked on three more in the ninth to complete the scoring.
The Miners will remain home for the middle three games of a nine-game homestand against the Frontier Greys beginning on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Michael Carden will get the start for the Miners against a pitcher yet to be named for the Greys.
