Miners score late to take second game from Florence Southern Illinois breaks tie in eighth inning to win for the 12th time in 13 games

MARION - The Southern Illinois Miners broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth, scoring the go-ahead and eventual winning run on an error by the Florence Freedom to notch a 2-1 victory at Rent One Park on Wednesday night, clinching the three-game series at home while winning for the 12th time in their last 13 games overall.

The game was a pitcher's duel deluxe between the Miners' Chase Cunningham and the Freedom's Zak Spivy. It was Spivy who broke first, as with one out in the bottom of the second inning, Kyle Davis singled and Taylor Sparks doubled to extend their hit streaks to 13 and eight in a row, respectively, and put runners at second and third base. Arturo Nieto then singled to center field to make the score 1-0.

Cunningham (9-4), meanwhile, settled into a groove after stranding four runners on base in the first two innings, needing just 13 pitches total to retire the side in the third and fourth. But a leadoff walk led to the tying run in the fifth, as Austin Wobrock drew the base-on-balls and was sacrificed to second base by Jackson Pritchard before Luis Pintor's soft RBI single to left-center made the score 1-1.

Cunningham, would strike out two to keep it tied in that inning, however, and ended up tying his career-best with eight innings pitched, permitting just the one run on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. And after the Miners could not bring in the go-ahead run despite a leadoff walk against Spivy in the seventh inning, they made Cunningham the winning pitcher with a rally in the eighth.

Kirvin Moesquit led off with a walk against reliever Jared Cheek (0-1) and was sacrificed to second base by Omar Obregon. A single by Yeltsin Gudino then moved Moesquit to third base and extended his personal hit streak to ten in a row. Gianfranco Wawoe followed by hitting a high, bouncing ground ball to third base, where Trevor Craport made a leaping catch, keeping Moesquit near the bag. But Craport's throw across to first base was late, and the ball skidded away from Taylor Bryant into foul ground for an error, allowing Moesquit to score and put the Miners in the lead 3-2.

In the top of the ninth, Gabe Gentner worked around the tying run on base for his tenth save of the season and second in as many nights by striking out two to give the Miners the one-run victory, allowing them to keep pace in the crowded West Division playoff chase.

Tuesday's Game: McAuliffe masterful against Freedom

MARION - The Southern Illinois Miners got a dominant, seven-inning start from Ryan McAuliffe on the mound at Rent One Park on Tuesday, and gave him plenty of early run support in beating the Florence Freedom 6-3 for their 11th win in their last 12 games overall.

Neither team scored until the bottom of the third inning, when Joe Duncan's one-out walk off Florence starter George Faue (2-2) kicked off what would become a four-run rally. That walk was followed by three straight singles, with Omar Obregon bringing in Duncan for a 1-0 lead, then Yeltsin Gudino extending his hit streak to nine in a row by scoring Kirvin Moesquit for a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, with two outs, Jamey Smart flared an RBI single to left to score Obregon, and Kyle Davis pushed his hit streak out to 12 in a row with a double down the left field line, making the score 4-0 Southern Illinois.

After McAuliffe (5-3) pitched a scoreless top of the fourth, the Miners would extend their lead in the bottom half. Taylor Sparks launched his sixth homer of the season far over the left field fence to make it 5-0, and with two outs and Moesquit at second base later in the frame, Gudino came up with another RBI single to increase the advantage to 6-0.

That was all McAuliffe needed, as he allowed just two hits in the game over seven brilliant innings, walking one and striking out five while retiring the final ten batters he faced overall to win his fourth consecutive start. Florence got three runs back against the bullpen in the eighth inning, but Gabe Gentner shut the door with a flawless ninth inning to notch his ninth save and pull the Miners to within one-half game of a playoff spot and two games back of first place in the Frontier League's West Division.

Gudino, Davis and Moesquit all enjoyed two-hit nights offensively, while Sparks, Smart and Obregon each finished with one hit and one RBI in a game where seven of the nine Miners batters had at least one base knock.