AVON, Ohio – The Crushers defeated the Southern Illinois Miners Sunday night by a score of 8-7. It is the first series win of the season for Lake Erie.
Ean Walda received the start for the Crushers. In his first start of the season, Walda went three innings where he allowed two runs on three hits and three strikeouts.
Southern Illinois was off and running early in the contest. The Miners zipped out to a two-run lead after the first inning thanks to a Luke Mangieri double scoring Jarrod Watkins. An error by Steve Passatempo allowed Mangieri to score off the bat of Anthony Brocato.
Lake Erie retaliated quickly with three runs of its own in the top of the second inning. A wild pitch by Miners starter Tyler Brown initiated the scoring for the Crushers as Trevor Achenbach came home from third base. Bryan De La Rosa was the next man to score for the men in purple. An RBI single from Passatempo tied the game up. Starting Lake Erie right fielder, General McArthur added a run-scoring single. Javier Betancourt dashed home to give the Crushers the 3-2 lead.
The next scoring took place in the bottom of the fourth inning. Watkins hit home Ryan Stacy with a single to knot the score at 3-3.
The fifth inning was filled to the brim with scoring. Steven Kraft began the action with a single scoring Shawon Dunston Jr. Karl Ellison would be the next player to touch home for the visiting Crushers. Brody Wofford’s single allowed Ellison to score. A sacrifice fly from De La Rosa gave way to Achenbach making the trot home to give the Crushers a 6-3 lead.
That lead vanished quickly. A struggling Aaron Glickstein on the mound for Lake Erie let the door open for the Miners. Ian Walters brought home Nolan Earley with a triple. Nick Neville performed the homerun jog with a two-run shot evening the playing field at 6-6.
A bases-loaded two-run single from De La Rosa guided the Crushers to another advantage on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning.
Mangieri hit into a double play in the bottom of the eighth inning; however, Watkins did score on the play cutting the Lake Erie lead to 8-7.
Daniel Kight cleaned house in the bottom of the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning to end the ballgame. He recorded the save. Paul Perez and J.T. Perez also pitched for the Crushers during the later innings.
Through ten games, the Crushers are 3-7 and behold a two-game win streak. The Miners’ second consecutive loss drops them to an identical record of 3-7.
Up next for the Crushers is a three-game set pinned against the Gateway Grizzlies starting Tuesday night. The Grizzlies are 4-6 on the season.
The first pitch on Tuesday is set for 7:45 pm ET.
©2023 copyright lakeeriecrushers
