Offensive Explosion
Crusher bats come alive in 14-1 victory over Miners
AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, set season highs with 14 runs and 16 hits on Sunday afternoon at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium, as they avoided a sweep with a convincing 14-1 victory over the Southern Illinois Miners.
The win for the Crushers (13-13) snapped a four game home losing streak, while the loss for the Miners (14-12) spoiled their attempt at what would have been their first sweep on the road this season.
The Miners struck first in the top of the first inning without recording a hit. Bryant Flete started the game with a seven pitch walk, before moving to second on a wild pitch. Jonathan Pryor moved him to third on a groundout to short, and he came around to score on Gianfranco Wawoe’s sacrifice fly-out to right.
Lake Erie was able to answer two innings later. James Davison Jr. reached on a four pitch free pass in the bottom of the third. He stole second base and came around to score the game tying run on Steven Kraft’s RBI double down the line in right.
The Crushers took their first lead of the series in the bottom of the fifth inning, where they scored four times on two hits to take a 5-1 advantage. Kraft and Jake Vieth walked to start the inning, and they both came around to score on Emmanuel Marrero’s two-run double off the wall in left-center. Two batters later, Aaron Hill capped the big inning by belting a two-run homer to left, his third of the season.
Lake Erie put four more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Vieth brought in the first two runs of the inning on a base hit to score Bodie Bryan and Davison Jr. Dale Burdick followed with his first of two RBI doubles on the day and Zach Racusin brought in the final run of the inning with a RBI groundout.
The Crusher offense was far from finished, as they posted a third consecutive four run inning in the bottom of the seventh. Kraft belted a RBI single to right score Bryan, before Burdick delivered his second RBI double of the game and Marrero struck again, belting a two run single to center to cap the big inning.
Lake Erie added one more run in the bottom of the eighth. Bryan started the inning with a triple to left-center and came around to score on Davison Jr.’s RBI single.
Dylan Mouzakes (2-1) picked up the victory for the Crushers, allowing just a run on four hits while striking out six in six innings of work. Patrick Duester (0-2) took the loss after allowing six runs on two hits over an inning of relief.
Eight out of the starting nine for the Crushers hit safely multiple times, with Steven Kraft leading the way, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Vieth has now reached safely in 14 straight games while Burdick extended his on base streak to 10 games.
The Crushers are off on Monday, but will begin a six-game road trip on Tuesday night, which begins with a three-game series against the Joliet Slammers. The starting pitching match-up has not been announced. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.
Audio: 103.5 FM ESPN Southern Illinois – 20190609
Video: JUNE 9 LEC VS. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
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