Health & Fitness
Joliet clips Miners in second game for series win
Slammers victorious in back and forth battle setting up chance to sweep Southern Illinois Sunday…
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(Joliet, IL) – The Joliet Slammers (24-29) topped the Southern Illinois Miners (29-24) in a wacky, back and forth affair on Saturday night by a final of 7-6, winning the series with one game to go on Sunday afternoon.
Shawn Kale was not strong out of the gates at Silver Cross Field as he allowed four runs to score in the top of the first inning on four hits, facing nine batters in the frame. However, the right-handed pitcher settled down in the contest, lasting a total of five innings and somehow found a way to pick up the victory improving to 3-2 on the season.
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Preston Vancil excelled as expected through the first three innings, shutting out Joliet and not allowing a hit. But it was Vancil’s fourth inning that gave him trouble.
The Slammers scored five runs in the inning after sending 11 batters to the dish to take a 5-4 lead. But Joliet chalked up all five runs with only two hits as the Slammers were assisted with four free passes from Vancil via the walk, an error on shortstop Logan Brumley and a hit batter in Joe Meggs.
Niko Vasquez started the inning with the first hit of the evening for Joliet and after Marquis Riley drew the first walk in the frame, Nick Akins drove Vasquez home on a RBI double making it 4-1 Southern Illinois. Then Kyle Maunus made it a 4-2 contest after driving Riley home from third on a sac fly to left field.
The next three runs would score on an error and two walks with the bases loaded handing Joliet a 5-4 advantage.
The very next inning the Miners tied the score at 5-5 on a two-out solo home run from All-Star Gerardo Avila. But in the bottom of the same inning, Akins would lead off the fifth with his ninth long ball of the year taking the lead right back for Joliet.
The Slammers added another run in the fifth and would hold on to win by a final tally of 7-6.
Justin Erasmus remains flawless in the ninth, as the Australian closer picked up his 13th save in as many chances.
Joliet tries for their first series sweep on the year on Sunday afternoon. Rookie Matt Dillon (1-1, 2.38) is on the bump for the Slammers, facing off against Dayne Quist (4-2, 2.25) for Southern Illinois. First pitch is at 2:05 and the pre game show on 1340 WJOL begins at 1:50 p.m.
Single game tickets, season tickets, loaded ticket packages and group outings for the 2013 season are available now by calling 815-722-2287. Click here to download the team’s complete 2013 schedule, click here for the full promotional schedule and click here to buy single game tickets. To stay up to date on the latest news, make sure to like the Slammers on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
