By WJBC Staff
PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs won the rubber match of a three-game home series 3-1 against the Beloit Snappers Thursday night. The win improves the Chiefs to 10-11 on the season with three games left on the homestand.
The Chiefs opened the scoring in the third when Blake Drake drilled Daniel Gossett’s first pitch of the inning down the left-field line for a solo home run and a 1-0 Peoria lead. The homer was Drake’s second in three days and gave him his seventh RBI of the season.
The Snappers answered back in the fourth against Chiefs starter Daniel Poncedeleon. Beloit first baseman Sandber Pimentel drove a 1-0 Poncedeleon offering over the wall in left center to tie the game at 1-1.
Peoria re-took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Collin Radack reached on an error to start the inning, Gossett walked Justin Ringo and Alex DeLeon in succession to load the bases. With one out, Steve Bean hit a sacrifice fly to left center to bring Radack in to score and give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead.
The Chiefs added an insurance run in the eighth. Oscar Mercado singled to lead off the inning, stole second base and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Diekroeger. Mercado scored on a Radack single up the middle for the 3-1 Chiefs lead.
Poncedeleon (2-0) got the win with 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and walking one while tying a season-high with seven strikeouts. Blake McKnight pitched two shutout innings of relief, walking one without recording a strikeout. Nick Lomascolo came in with two out in the eighth and allowed a hit while also hitting a batter. Tyler Bray retired the only batter he faced with a strikeout. Kyle Grana came on in the ninth and struck out the side in a hitless, scoreless inning to record his team-leading third save. Grana allowed one walk and hit one batter.
