JOLIET, IL – Isaac Milburn struck out ten to carry the ThunderBolts to a 2-1 win over the Joliet Slammers at Slammers Stadium Wednesday night.
The ThunderBolts (32-48) were aggressive right from the start. Michael Sandle launched a home run on the first pitch he saw, giving the Bolts the lead with one swing of the bat. Jalen Greer hit a ball deep into the left-field corner for a standup double, but Gunnar Kines kept it a short inning with just eight pitches.
Milburn made his third start for the Bolts and quickly got to work, pitching five straight scoreless innings.
In the third inning, an RBI double from Daryl Ruiz made it a 2-0 ball game.
Joliet threatened a run in the fourth inning, but some exciting 7-6-4-3-2 action kept the Slammers at bay. Antonio Valdez hit a deep single to advance Braylin Marine to third. Valdez got caught in a rundown between first and second base, and Marine sprinted for home. A perfect throw and tag from the Bolts’ defense got Marine out at the plate, ending a scoreless inning.
Marine got his revenge in the sixth inning, hitting an RBI single to cut the Bolts’ lead in half. That would be the Slammers' only run of the game.
Jalen Evans and Trevin Reynolds combined for the final 1.2 innings of the game to seal the 2-1 win.
Milburn (3-0) earned his third win in as many starts after allowing just one run in 7.1 innings of work. The loss went to Kines (4-6) after allowing two earned runs over six innings.
The Bolts will go home to face Joliet for the last time in this regular season. Eric Turner (7-2, 5.67) will look for his first win for the Bolts against CJ Blowers (2-3, 2.60) at 6:35 CDT Thursday. It's White Castle Wrestling Thursday at Ozinga Field featuring a postgame show from EGO Pro Wrestling. Broadcast information can be found at
wcthunderbolts.com.
