By Greg Halbleib
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, gave up three early runs and never led in a 7-5 loss to the Southern Illinois Miners on Saturday night at the Corn Crib.
The Miners struck right away with three runs on four hits in the first inning off Belters starter Charlie Gillies, with RBIs credited to Ryan Lashley and Justin Chigbogu and the additional run scoring on an error.
The CornBelters countered with an unearned run in the third inning when Yeixon Ruiz went to second with an infield single plus an error, then scored on a liner off the second baseman’s glove by Santiago Chirino.
Southern Illinois took advantage of four walks in the fifth inning, plating two more runs on just one hit, a two-run single by Willi Martin to increase their advantage to 5-1.
Normal answered in the home fifth to cut the margin to 5-2 as Craig Lepre drew a lead-off walk, went to second on a single and third on a double play, then scored on a chopper to the left of the mound by Chirino.
The guests quickly countered in the sixth inning when London Lindley walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a Craig Massey single to knock Gillies out of the game with the hosts trailing 6-2.
The CornBelters scored a lead-off walk for the second straight inning in the sixth when Miguel Torres earned the free pass, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jacoby Middleton to slice the deficit to 6-3.
The Miners converted a lead-off walk as Marc Flores then stole second and scored on a single to shallow left field by Joel McKeithan for a 7-3 advantage.
A pair of walks to lead off the seventh scored to cut the Belters’ deficit to 7-5 as Aaron Dudley bounced a double to the left field corner and Torres lifted a sacrifice fly to right for the runs.
Payton Lobdell (2-1) earned the win with 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and four walks. Gillies (1-1) took the loss with 5 1/3 innings of work, giving up six runs (earned) on six hits with eight walks and five strikeouts. The teams combined for 18 walks, 10 from Southern Illinois and eight by the Belters.
The series concludes Sunday with a 4:35 p.m. first pitch at the Corn Crib as Bob Wheatley (2-1, 2.93 ERA) starts on the hill for Normal against the Miners’ Tyler Stubblefield (0-1, 4.50) in a battle of lefties. Youth Baseball Night features free admission for youth players who wear their uniforms, and dogs are welcome in the lawn area.
Fans can also purchase a special Sunday ticket special by calling the Mid Illini Credit Union Box Office Sunday at 309-454-2255 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday for a ticket to Sunday’s game for only $12, which also includes an Avanti’s gondola, a bag of Beer Nuts and a beverage.
Sunday’s game can be heard on WJBC.com with listen live links at www.normalbaseball.com. Pre-game begins at 4:20 p.m.
Stay social with the CornBelters at http://twitter.com/normal_baseball, http://www.facebook.com/CornBelters and http://www.youtube.com/normalcornbelters.
