Home Baseball Miners Fall Hard In Series Opener In Washington

Miners Fall Hard In Series Opener In Washington

by Jason Guerette

The Southern Illinois Miners led 3-0 heading to the bottom of the third, but the Washington Wild Things exploded for eight runs in the frame en route to a 13-4 win at Consol Energy Park on Tuesday night.

The Miners backed new starter Jarett Miller (0-1) with three early runs. After Jerrud Sabourin doubled with two outs, Frank Martinez cranked a two-run homer to right off Washington starter Ernesto Zaragoza (3-1), his third of the year, for a 2-0 Miners lead. Sabourin then hit a sac fly in the top of the third to score Aaron Gates, who had previously tripled, for a 3-0 advantage.

The Wild Things pounced in the bottom of the inning, though. They chased Miller from the game with an eight-run rally, including two walks, two batters hit by a pitch and two home runs. After the Wild Things sent 13 men to the plate, they held an 8-3 lead through three innings.

The Miners would score again in the seventh inning, as Ryan DiMascio reached on an infield single before Michael Earley drove him home with a deep double to the right-center field. Washington, however, continued to score off of the Miners’ bullpen, getting five more runs in the sixth and the seventh combined for the final margin.

Brendan Slattery had two hits while Martinez drove home two as the Miners dropped the opener of the series and of the six-game road swing. They will send reigning Pitcher of the Year Matt Bywater to the mound to try and even up the series at 9:35 a.m. CT in a matinee at Consol Energy Park against Washington’s Luke Wilkins.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2014 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

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Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.

2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.

In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.

Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.

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