 |
| Thomas McCormick |
Southern Indiana halted comeback attempts by the Miners in both games of Wednesday's doubleheader at the UMR Baseball Field and came away with a sweep, winning by scores of 7-6 in eight innings and 2-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
UMR rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the sixth inning of game one to draw even, but couldn't get the go-ahead run across in either the sixth or seventh inning before the Eagles won the game in the top of the eighth. The Miners then got runners on base in each of the last four innings of the nightcap, but those threats were halted as well.
The Eagles scored four times in the opening inning off UMR starter Matt Campbell, but the Miners bounced back and scored three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first.
With one out, Cody Bass drew a walk from starter Jeremy Kerht, then a walk to Nick Zurweller was followed by an error on a throw to second on a ball hit by Thomas McCormick. The throwing error allowed Bass to score.
Later in the inning, Robbie Martin delivered a sacrifice fly and Brandon Cogan got a two-out single that cut the lead to 4-3 and eventually led to Kehrt's exit from the game.
Both teams batted around in the first inning which lasted for 37 minutes.
USI added single runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 6-3 lead as reliever Dan Kissel held the Miners down after the opening flurry. However, UMR got to the Eagle bullpen in the sixth, as Cogan and pinch-hitter Joe Montgomery got hits off Kissel to lead to his removal from the contest.
The Miners loaded the bases moments later on a bunt single by Gerad Fox, then Bass singled up the middle to make it 6-4. After the Eagles got the second out of the inning on a force out at the plate, McCormick singled past shortstop Kevin O'Hair to drive home two runs to tie the contest at six.
A passed ball put runners on second and third, but Eaf Redden fouled out to right to end that scoring opportunity. UMR got another chance in the seventh when Cogan doubled with one out, but Eagle reliever Brook Meier got out of the jam to send the game to extra innings.
In the eighth, a one-out single by Chad Bruce brought home Alex Thieroff with the go-ahead run. Meier retired the Miners in order in the bottom of the eighth to get the win.
Cogan had three hits for UMR in the opener, while Bass and McCormick had two hits apiece. Tavish Hill, who entered the game in the eighth inning, took the loss for the Miners.
In the second game, Southern Indiana got both of its runs in the second inning when Bruce doubled home a run with two outs and another run scored on a balk by pitcher Ben Sherman.
The Miners didn't get their first runner on base until Fox led off the fourth with a hit, but he was erased on a double play. UMR got two runners on in the fifth and another in the sixth with two outs but couldn't push anything across.
Cogan led off the seventh with a hit, but he was also erased on a double play that ended the game.
UMR had just four hits in the nightcap, while three Miner pitchers held the Eagles to five hits in the contest.
The Miners (9-14, 2-11 GLVC) will take on Lewis in a three-game series this weekend in Romeoville, Ill., starting with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.
Leave a comment