FLORENCE, KY – Bob Glover hit two home runs and the ThunderBolts scored four first-inning runs on their way to an 8-5 win at the Home of the Florence Freedom Tuesday night.
Windy City got five straight hits with two outs in the first to get off to a strong start. After Chad Cregar walked, C.J. Gillman singled and they both scored on Ryan Cuneo’s double. Glover’s base hit scored Cuneo and Brandon Decker knocked in Glover to make it 4-0.
Glover’s first home run of the night in the third gave Windy City a 5-0 lead.
Tyson Corley had allowed only two hits in his first four innings and had retired eight in a row when John Malloy put Florence on the board with a solo homer.
It took until the seventh for the Bolts to respond, but in that inning, Mike Torres doubled and Chris Wade singled with two outs. Against a new pitcher, Cregar singled them home to make it 7-1. Another Glover homer gave the Bolts their biggest lead at 8-1 in the eighth.
The Freedom made it interesting in the ninth, scoring four runs without a hit. The ThunderBolts used five pitchers in the inning that featured three walks, a hit batter, an error and three RBI fielder’s choices. The Freedom had the bases loaded with the winning run at the plate, but Michael Click struck out Eddie Rodriguez to close the win.
Corley (3-6) pitched seven solid innings for the win while Alec Lewis (4-7) gave up seven runs in the loss. Click earned his first save.
The ThunderBolts three-game series with the Florence Freedom will continue on Wednesday night. Game two of the series will start at 6:05 CDT at The Home of the Florence Freedom. It will feature Stephen Sauer (6-6, 3.23) on the mound for Windy City against Florence’s Sean Gregory (6-6, 3.92). The game broadcast can be heard on sportsjuice.com.
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