Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Box Score Link: https://www.frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/boxscores/20230722_zwhz.xml

JOLIET, IL – The Lake Erie Crushers have snapped a two-game skid and defeated the Joliet Slammers 2-0.

The Crushers (25-34) have now evened up the series at one apiece after the pitching displayed its dominance and held the Slammers (26-33) to just a handful of hits. Lake Erie will get ready to play in their 12th rubber match of the season, of which they have dropped their last eight. 

The only inning where either team scored was in the top of the second frame. Kenen Irizarry got the Crushers’ offense going with a one-out walk. Jack Harris followed and doubled into the right-center field gap to score a run and then advanced to third base on the throw. John Tuccillo roped a pitch in the next at-bat to right field and was credited with a sacrifice fly as he scored Harris.

Matt Mulhearn (4-4) pitched 5.0 innings for the Crushers as he did not allow a run on three hits while walking seven. He did not record a strikeout but was credited with the win. 

Lake Erie hoisted a trio of arms out of the bullpen in Perry Bewley, Trevor Kuncl and Alexis Rivero. They combined for four strikeouts on a pair of hits without giving up a run. Rivero slammed the door in the ninth inning and earned his fifth save of the year.

Cameron Aufderheide (1-6) went the distance for Joliet. He tossed 9.0 innings and surrendered a pair of runs on five hits while racking up eight punchouts with two walks. He pitched well but picked up the hard-luck loss. 

Joliet left 10 men on base, but Lake Erie did not have too much trouble to work around. The Slammers had runners on second and third with two outs in both the first and fourth innings but were not able to capitalize.

The Crushers will finalize their three-game set versus the Slammers tomorrow, with a chance to win their first road series of the 2023 season. The first pitch is at 1:05 PM CDT.