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CRESTWOOD, IL – Blair Beck’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning ended a nip and tuck marathon ballgame at Ozinga Field Saturday night as the ThunderBolts defeated the River City Rascals 4-3.

The ThunderBolts (10-10) took an early lead when Brynn Martinez singled and Patrick Mathis doubled him home in the bottom of the third.

River City (12-9) evened the score in the fifth, loading the bases with nobody out before a double play brought home their first run. Two batters later, Andrew Penner picked up an RBI single to put the Rascals on top for the first time.

In the bottom of the sixth, Tyler Alamo hit a leadoff double and scored on a Randy Perez groundout to tie the game at two. The Bolts then recaptured the lead when Trey Fulton doubled in the seventh and Patrick Mathis hit his third two-base hit of the game to score the go-ahead run.

Again, though, the Rascals fought back. Artemis Kadkhodaian’s RBI single in the eighth evened the score at three, but Dylan Prohoroff came in with the bases loaded and got the final two outs to force extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, The Rascals had a runner at third with one out. He tried to score on a shallow fly out to right field but Shane Carrier cut him down at the plate, keeping the game tied and setting up Beck, who led off the bottom of the inning with Perez at second base. Beck lined an 0-2 pitch to center field to end the game.

Blake Hickman (1-1) threw two shutout innings for the win and Joe Mortillaro (1-2) faced only one batter but took the loss.

The rubber match of the three-game set is scheduled for 2:05 on Sunday afternoon. Christian Morris (1-1, 4.05) gets the start for the ThunderBolts against River City’s Alex Winkelman (1-2, 4.15). It is JULIE Family Sunday at Ozinga Field as the ThunderBolts celebrate the ballpark’s 20th anniversary. Fans not in attendance can listen to the broadcast on WXAV, 88.3 FM and wxav.com.

Box Score