Home Baseball Miners Bounce Back, Beat Rascals

Miners Bounce Back, Beat Rascals

by Jason Guerette
The Southern Illinois Miners got back into the win column on Friday night at Rent One Park, rebounding from back-to-back defeats by beating the River City Rascals 5-2 thanks to a strong start by Dan Ludwig and clutch hitting in the third that allowed them to take the lead for good.
After Ludwig (6-1) wiggled out of trouble in the first, stranding a runner at third base, the Miners got the lead in the bottom half right away against Tim Koons (3-3), as Aaron Gates and Shane Kennedy hit back-to-back doubles to give Southern Illinois a 1-0 lead. River City would tie the score on a single by Braxton Martinez in the third inning, but Ludwig induced a double-play grounder to avoid further damage.
In the third, the Miners would take the lead again as Francisco Rosario and Gates drew two straight leadoff walks. Two batters later, with Rosario now at third and Gates running on the pitch from first, Alex De Leon dumped a two-run single into center field, with Gates making it home from first on the throw in from the outfield and De Leon taking second base, giving the Miners a 3-1 lead. Vin Guglietti would add an RBI single of his own for a 4-1 advantage. River City would get a run back in the top of the fourth, but Edison Sanchez would homer to left for his first long ball as a Miner, a solo shot for the 5-2 final margin.
Ludwig ended up settling down and working six and one-third innings, allowing just one earned run on eight hits to earn the victory, which stood up thanks to solid relief pitching. River City would get the tying run to the plate in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but Kyle Tinius, Chris DeBoo and Adam Lopez, respectively, each held the Rascals off the scoreboard, with Lopez pitching the ninth for his first save of the season.
Gates finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, while Kennedy doubled twice in going 2-for-4 to lead the Miners offensively, and the team will go for the series win on Saturday afternoon with a special start time of 4:05 p.m. The starters for both teams have yet to be officially named.
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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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