Lake Erie falls to Joliet, 4-1
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Joliet, Ill. – After losing on Friday night, the Lake Erie Crushers (41-42) couldn’t’ afford to drop a second game in a row. For the Joliet Slammers (44-38) they’re the hottest team in the Frontier League, owning the largest win streak currently. Both teams entered Saturday night’s contest needing a win.
Lake Erie led first but that’d be their only lead and run as the offense was quiet for the second night in a row. Once more it was timely hitting and strong pitching for the Slammers that led them to the 4-1 win.
No runs were scored until the fourth inning. Lake Erie was the first on the board. Recently acquired D.J. Stewarted lined an RBI single to right field.
After the fourth it was all Slammers scoring two runs in the fifth and two runs in the eighth inning. In the fifth, Brylie Ware who homered in the opener, hit an RBI triple down the right field line and Matt Feinstein scored Ware on an RBI sac-fly. In the eighth, JP Fullerton drew a bases loaded walk and Tyler Depreta-Johnson scored Jackson Coutts on an RBI sac-fly to extend the lead to three.
In terms of the pitching, both teams showcased strong performances. For Lake Erie, Gunnar Kines received the start. The lefty lasted five innings, allowed two runs on seven hits, walked three, and struck out 10 batters. Elliot Carney followed in the sixth inning, Carney threw a scoreless inning without allowing a hit. Gleyvin Pineda entered in the eighth. The flamethrower threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Sam Curtis called out in the eighth inning to try and keep the deficit at one, but couldn’t do so. For the first time this season, Curtis struggled on the mound. The righty allowed two runs on one hit while walking three batters.
On the Slammers side, the team used another strong starting pitching performance in the win. This time it was Spencer Johnston on the mound. He threw six innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked one, and stuck out two. Jared Libelt appeared for the second straight game in the seventh inning. Liebelt threw a scoreless inning while allowing one hit. Tanner Kiest followed in the eighth inning. Kiest threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Tyler Jay appeared in the ninth inning to try and secure his seventh save of the season. Jay threw a scoreless ninth inning and secured a 4-1 win for the Slammers.
Lake Erie will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday, August 21st. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM ET.
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