NKyTribune staff
Chance Shepard’s three-run homer in the top of the 12th inning lifted the Southern Illinois Miners to a 10-9 win over the Florence Freedom on Thursday night at UC Health Stadium.
Shepard blasted his Frontier League-leading ninth homer of the season to left field, a three-run blast to put the Miners up 10-7. The Freedom rallied in the bottom half of the frame, scoring twice on a single by Austin Wobrock and a sacrifice fly by Andre Mercurio to make it a 10-9 game. Florence also put the tying run at third base with two outs.
But Patrick Duester, who tied his career-long with 3 1/3 innings pitched in the contest, got Xavier Turner to hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice as the Miners pulled out the comeback win in a contest that lasted five hours and 12 minutes.
Trailing 6-3, the Freedom rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Florence took advantage of four walks in the bottom of the ninth to even the score at 6-all.
With the International Tiebreaker in effect, putting an automatic runner at second base to start each subsequent inning, the Miners went ahead 7-6 on a sacrifice fly by John Holland in the 11th, but could not push their lead out further. With two outs in the bottom half, Brandon Pugh singled in the tying run to make it 7-all and send the contest to the 12th inning, setting the stage for Shepard’s heroics.
Wobrock paced the Freedom offense by going 4-for-7 with two runs scored. Keivan Berges was 3-for-6 and scored three times, while Pugh finished with two hits and three RBI.
Southern Illinois is now tied with the River City Rascals for first place in the West Division with a 14-9 record. The Miners defeated the Freedom twice in the three-game series.
Florence, which has lost 10 of its last 11 games, plays at Gateway on Friday at 7:05 p.m.