ThunderBolts throttle Mud Monsters in series opening win
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CRESTWOOD, Ill. – On the back of 16 runs on 18 hits, the Windy City ThunderBolts defeated the Mississippi Mud Monsters 16-4 Friday night in the series opener at Ozinga Field.
Mississippi (23-32) opened the scoring with one run in the top of the second inning before Windy City (28-25) kicked off its offensive onslaught in the home half of the frame.
Josue Urdaneta and Justin Fogel each notched RBI singles, while Tre Hondras and Michael Sandle added sacrifice flies to plate four runs to give Windy City a 4-1 lead entering the third.
The Mud Monsters pulled themselves back to within one run in the top of the third before the ThunderBolts offense got back to work in the home half of the inning.
An Oscar Serratos single scored Victor Cerny from for the first run of the frame before the Mississippi defense unraveled. After Hondras drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners, two Mud Monster errors brought Serratos and Hondras in to score.
After Mississippi scored in the top of the fourth inning, Windy City broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth, as the Bolts scored seven runs with the help of four Mud Monster errors.
Four different ThunderBolts recorded RBI singles in the inning as the Bolts sent 12 to the plate to take a 14-4 lead. The ThunderBolts added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to push their lead to 16-4.
Starter Tyler Biddinger (2-0) picked up the win, allowing four runs on four hits in six complete innings. Art Joven (5-3) was tagged with the loss for the Mud Monsters. He allowed 14 runs, nine of which were earned, on 13 hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Windy City returns to action Saturday for the second of three games this weekend against Mississippi. AJ Campbell (5-2, 5.06) gets the starting nod for the Bolts. The Mud Monsters counter with Sergio Sanchez (0-0, 0.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and broadcast information is available at wcthunderbolts.com
