By Greg Halbleib
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters ended their nine-game winning streak at the hands of the Southern Illinois Miners, 10-2 on Friday night at the Corn Crib.
The Miners took advantage of early wildness by Belters starter Kevin Brahney by scoring four runs in the second inning on an RBI single by Toby DeMello and a bases-loaded-and-clearing triple by Michael Earley.
The Belters didn’t get a hit off Miners starter Matt Bywater until two outs in the fourth inning when Richard Lucas doubled to the right field corner, followed by an Aaron Dudley base hit to right for the hosts’ first run to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Niko Vasquez sent a one-out two-run homer just over the right center field fence in the fifth inning to push the Miners’ lead to 6-1. An RBI double by Steve Marino and a run-scoring single by DeMello gave Southern Illinois an 8-1 lead at the game’s halfway point.
Pat McKenna doubled to lead off the Belters sixth and was singled home by Lucas to cut the margin to 8-2.
The Miners increased their advantage to 10-2 with a pair of tallies in the seventh inning on a triple by Jon Minucci and a sacrifice fly by DeMello.
Bywater (4-0) earned the win while Brahney (3-1) suffered the loss in 4 1/3 innings of work, giving up eight runs on 10 hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
The series continues at 6:35 p.m. Saturday at the Corn Crib as the Belters put right-hander Chris Carmain (3-0, 2.19 ERA) on the mound against Miners lefty Ryan Brockett (0-1, 3.48). State Farm Saturday provides half-price box seats for $6 for State Farm agents, employees and policy-holders, and dozens of local residents will be honored on Cancer Survivors Night. Broadcast time on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com is at 6:20.
