Jordan Brower and Andrew Godbold drove in three runs each to help lift the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solution, to a series sweep of the Gateway Grizzlies with a 6-4 victory Sunday at UC Health Stadium.
Florence (51-28) raced out to an early lead, plating three first-inning runs off Gateway (24-55) starter Will Anderson (2-12). After Anderson walked Daniel Fraga and gave up a double down the third base line to Taylor Oldham, Godbold cleared the bases with a double to the left-center gap. Brower pushed Florence in front, 3-0, with a single to right that scoring Godbold and extended his team-best hitting streak to 15 games.
Fraga recorded his ninety-second hit of the season, a new career high, with a single to start a Freedom rally in the second. After Oldham singled into left-center to move Fraga to third, Godbold drove in his third run of the evening with a single to left, giving Florence a 4-0 lead.
Gateway would cut the deficit in half in the top of the seventh, however. After Joel McKeithan started the frame with a leadoff single off Florence starter Steve Hagen (7-4), Jack Hranec launched a mammoth home run over the Freedom bullpen in right field, bringing the Grizzlies within two.
Hagen would finish with just two runs allowed over six and two-thirds innings, striking out five.
The Freedom stretched their lead back to four in the bottom of the eighth, when Brower followed a Keivan Berges single with an opposite-field homer to left off Grizzlies reliever Mike Elwood, making the score 6-2. The long ball was Brower’s eighth of the season, tying Collins Cuthrell for the team lead among active Freedom players.
The win was the seventh in a row for the Freedom, the team’s second-longest winning streak of the season.
Florence relievers Mike Anthony, Jamal Wilson and Pete Perez all made appearances out of the Freedom bullpen, covering 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on only two hits. Wilson struck out the side in the eighth.
The Freedom are off Monday and Tuesday before welcoming the Evansville Otters to UC Health Stadium for a doubleheader on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m.
The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.
Florence Freedom