Miners 5 Bolts 0
MARION, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners beat the ThunderBolts for the eighth straight time as Windy City could not get their bats going in a 5-0 loss to open the season’s second half at Rent One Park Friday night.
Southern Illinois (33-19) scored an unearned run against Danny Jimenez in the first as Aaron Gates and Michael Earley led off with back-to-back singles. Gates moved to third on Coco Johnson’s error. He scored on a Niko Vasquez sacrifice fly.
The ThunderBolts (19-31) had at least one baserunner in each of the first six innings but they could not match the early Southern Illinois run, getting no further than second base all game.
The Miners distanced themselves in the fourth inning. After Joe Rapp drew a leadoff walk, Steve Marino homered to make it 3-0
They tacked on a few more runs late. In the seventh, Earley hit a solo homer for a 4-0 lead. The Miners would go on to load the bases that inning, but James Ferguson worked out of the jam to hold it at 4-0. It would become 5-0 the following frame when Southern Illinois was able to string together three two-out singles. Vasquez brought home Gates for the RBI.
A combination of Miners starter Rick Teasley and two relievers held down the ThunderBolts late in the game, retiring the last 12 Windy City hitters.
Teasley (7-2) pitched seven shutout innings for the victory and Jimenez (2-5) took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings. Tommy Nance threw well out of the ThunderBolts bullpen, retiring all four batters he faced.
The ThunderBolts and Miners will continue their series on Saturday evening with game two at Rent One Park. Travis Tingle (2-5, 2.41) will make his first start since the All-Star Game for Windy City against Southern Illinois’s Adam Lopez (7-0, 1.70). First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 and the broadcast can be heard on WXAV 88.3 FM and wxav.com.
Box Score