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SAUGET, Ill. – The Grizzlies scored seven runs in the eighth inning in an impressive comeback, but Schaumburg regained momentum in extra innings. FINAL SCORE: Schaumburg 10, Grizzlies 9.
Schaumburg carried its early offensive firepower from Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon. Four hits, including a two-run home run by Seth Spivey, gave the Boomers three first-inning runs.
After Gateway scored one in the bottom of the first, the Boomers picked up where they left off. Three runners came across home plate off of three hits. Schaumburg broke the game open, taking an early 6-1 lead.
Schaumburg added three insurance runs between the fourth and eighth innings. After the one-run first inning, Gateway was held scoreless through the next five frames.
Down 9-2 going into the bottom of the eighth, Gateway’s offense came alive.Seven runs came across off of seven hits. Garrett Mattlage launched a grand slam over the right field wall and Zach Lavy came through with a two-out, two-run single to tie the game up at nine apiece.
Both teams were scoreless through the ninth and tenth innings. The international tie-breaker rule, placing a runner on second base at the start of the 11th inning and beyond, came into play for the second game this week for Gateway.
Schaumburg scored one run in the top of the 11th inning, but stranded the bases loaded. The Grizzlies had another chance in the bottom half of the 11th, but went down 1-2-3 and fell in game two by a final score of 10-9.
The two teams combined for thirty hits in the slugfest on Wednesday afternoon.
Garrett Mattlage hit his first two home runs of the 2017 season. He also added five RBIs.
Gateway will resume action on Thursday night in the series finale. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. All of the action can be heard on the Grizzlies Media Network.
