The Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, were shut out by the Lake Erie Crushers, 3-0, Saturday night at UC Health Stadium.
Crushers (25-22) left fielder, Zach Racusin, drove in the first run of the game in the top of the third inning on a single off Daniel Williams (3-1), plating Aaron Hill who led off the frame with a double.
In the next inning, Lake Erie got back-to-back singles from John Cable and Bryan DeLaRosa to start the fourth, followed by a bases clearing double by James Davison Jr., extending the Crushers’ lead to, 3-0, the eventual final.
Logging his third quality start, Williams caught the loss, spanning six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, whiffing seven and walking one.
Dylan Mouzakes (4-3) surrendered only one hit, which was to Florence (34-17) outfielder Brandon Pugh.
The righty tossed six scoreless frames, fanning six and walking two in the winning effort.
Pugh later recorded his sixth multi-hit game of the year in the interleague match-up.
Ricky Ramirez Jr. extended his hitting streak to six games after a single to center in the bottom of the seventh, as he tries to match his season-high best of thirteen games.
Former Reds pitcher, Danny Graves, will be toeing the slab for a maximum of one inning as part of Big Leaguer’s Day, Sunday evening at UC Health Stadium.
Freedom ace Tyler Gibson (6-1, 3.43) will take the ball after Graves. Opposing the retired MLB pitcher will be Patrick Ledet (2-3, 1.96). First pitch is slated for 6:35 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.