Miners even series with 10-5 win over Rascals

The Rascals took a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the Southern Illinois bats woke up in the second en-route to scoring 10 runs on 14 hits to even the series with River City.

Rascal starter Doug Shields (5-1) looked strong in the first inning with two strikeouts and the offense got him the early lead in the bottom half when Charlie Lisk drilled a two-out two-run single off the wall in right field that scored Doug Sanders and Jeremy Synan after their singles in the inning.

The Miners (50-35) responded in the second with three runs on four hits to take a 3-2 lead and further gained the momentum in the game when Cody Hall (9-0) set the Rascal hitters down in order before the offense chased Shields in the third with three more runs on two hits that followed a pair of walks to start the inning.

The Rascals (41-45) closed the gap to 6-4 in the fourth after Corey LeVier and Matt Serna drew one-out walks and scored on a Zach Deutscher single and Eric Williams sacrifice fly.

Keli’i Zablan, Cory Caruso, and Nick Kennedy combined to keep the Miners off the scoreboard until the eight when a throwing error led to a run that stretch the Miner lead to 7-4.  After reliever Nick Cicio retired eight straight out of the bullpen for the Miners, he ran into trouble in the eighth, but River City left runners and second and third in the frame.

Southern Illinois put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth with three runs off Jason Sullivan to take a 10-4 lead before former Rascal closer Brandon Cunniff finished the game but not before allowing a run on three hits from Williams, Sanders, and Synan.