wcthunderbolts.com

MARION, IL – Tyler Booth’s sacrifice fly in the 17^th inning scored Chris Burke and gave the Southern Illinois Miners a 7-6 victory in a marathon game with the ThunderBolts at Rent One Park Thursday night.

The ThunderBolts jumped ahead with four runs in the top of the first inning. With two on and one out, Ryan Soares knocked in Jon Mestas with a double and Evan Button and Max White hit back-to-back RBI singles.

The following inning, the Miners tied the score with a four-run second. Aaron Gates started it with a single and scored on Steve Marino’s double. RBI singles from Jay Austin and Matt Howard made it 4-3 and Frank Martinez’s RBI triple tied the score.

The ThunderBolts would move ahead again in the fifth. Mike Torres singled and Kyle Robinson doubled him home. Robinson scored on an Evan Button single.

Again the Miners tied it with a multi-run inning. In the seventh, Matt Howard singled and scored on a Ryan Cavan double. Cavan was at third base with two outs when Aaron Gates brought him home on a single, tying the score.

Both teams went scoreless for the next nine innings despite strong chances from each side. The ThunderBolts’ best opportunity came in the 11^th. Brauer was at third base with one out and tried to score on Mestas’s flyout to right field, but Howard threw him out at the plate.

Brauer would get the Miners back, throwing Phil Butler out at home when the latter tried to score from second on a single in the 16^th.

Derrick Miramontes threw four shutout innings for the Miners and David Kubiak shut out the Bolts for three frames, giving the Southern Illinois offense ample opportunities to score. They had runners on base in all but one of the extra innings, but left 23 men on base.

Eli Anderson was the relief stalwart for the ThunderBolts, coming in for the 11^th and throwing six innings before being removed with two on in the 17^th. Jason Kafka came in and, after a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Booth picked up the winning RBI.

Kubiak (4-1) picked up the win and Anderson (0-5) took the loss.

The ThunderBolts will begin the second half of their season-long 12-game rodatrip on Friday as they wrap up the first half of the season with a three-game set against the River City Rascals at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. First pitch from O’Fallon, Missouri is scheduled for 7:05 and the broadcast can be heard on meridix.com.

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