After Saturday’s action was called in the fifth, the ThunderBolts entered play today already in an 8-0 hole. Though they showed up well, Windy City could not overcome the deficit, falling 10-4. They did, however, make the most of their second chance with a 3-0 victory in game two of the doubleheader.
Game one, which began Saturday night, was scoreless through three innings before Southern Illinois broke through in the fourth with a two-run home run from Todd Martin, the first hit at Standard Bank Stadium this year. They went on to score six times in the inning. The miners added two more in the fourth for the 8-0 lead when the rains came.
The ThunderBolt bats came alive late in the game when it was resumed on Sunday. The Bolts scored once in the seventh and eighth before mounting a small rally in the ninth, scoring twice and with two men aboard and one out. Robert Hedrick got the last two outs, though, and Southern Illinois completed the victory, 10-4, the final two runs coming on another Martin homer.
Game two belonged to Matt Jernstad. The Windy City starter got into trouble only once, with runners at the corners and one out in the second, but got out of it with a double play ball.
The ThunderBolts’ offense kicked in early with the leadoff man, Gilberto Mejia reaching on a single. He eventually came in to score on a Mike Sullivan groundout. The score was 1-0 all the way up to the bottom of the sixth. There, the ThunderBolts got singles from Sullivan and Tim Alberts, chasing starter Brett Scarpetta from the game. Against Jake MacMurran, Mike Torres and Dan Jordan singles knocked in Sullivan and Alberts, giving the Bolts a 3-0 lead.
Jernstad retired the Miners in order in the seventh to pick up the first complete game shutout of his career. On the win, he improves to 3-1. Brett Scarpetta drops to 1-2 with the loss. The Bolts are back in action Tuesday night at home against the Normal CornBelters. The game begins at 7:05 with pregame at 6:45 on WXAV 88.3 fm. Ryan Quigley (2-0) gets the start for Windy City.
