ThunderBolts sweep doubleheader, series
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JOLIET, IL – The ThunderBolts completed their second straight series sweep, winning a doubleheader from the Joliet Slammers at Slammers Stadium Thursday night. They took the opener in extra innings 5-3 before cruising to an 11-5 win in the nightcap.
Game one went back and forth early as each team scored a run in the second inning to keep it tied. Carlos Pena hit a solo home run in the top of the third to put the Bolts (18-16) in front 2-1and Daryl Ruiz added to the lead with a solo homer in the seventh.
With the 3-1 lead, they came within two outs of a win but Joliet (12-23) capitalized on three walks in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score and force an extra frame.
Jared Beebe’s sacrifice fly in the eighth put the Bolts back in front and a wild pitch scored a second run to make it a two-run game. Justin Lovell came out of the bullpen with a 1-2-3 inning to lock down the save.
Carter Delaney (5-0 picked up the win and Shaun Gamelin (0-3) took the loss.
Game two was controlled from the start by the ThunderBolts. They took advantage of five first-inning walks to take a 3-0 lead. An RBI single from Justin Fogel in the second and a Josue Urdaneta home run in the fourth made it 5-0 before Joliet even picked up their first base runner.
The Slammers got to Dante Maietta for the first time in the fifth as Jackson Beaman hit a two-run homer and Braylin Marine tacked on an RBI single, making it 5-3.
But the Bolts pulled away with Oscar Serratos and Michael Sandle hitting solo home runs in the sixth and four more runs scoring in the seventh. Sandle again came up with the big hit in the final inning, knocking in two runs on a double.
The Slammers got two runs in the bottom of the frame to make the final score 11-5.
Maietta (1-0) went five innings for his first win of the year. Blane Zeplin (1-1) was unable to get out of the first inning in the loss.
The Bolts will try to make it seven straight wins on Friday night in Schaumburg. Tyler Wehrle (2-1, 4.22) starts game one for the Bolts against Derek Salata (3-2, 3.76). First pitch from Wintrust Field is scheduled for 6:35 for the series opener and broadcast information can be found at wcthunderbolts.com.
