Crushers offense falls silent late against Miners

AVON — After a back-and-forth scoring frenzy through the first four innings, the Crushers offense came to a sudden halt. Lake Erie couldn't put a runner on base in the final five innings, and Southern Illinois scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to break a 7-7 deadlock. The Miners added two more insurance runs in the ninth for a 10-7 win Tuesday night at Mercy Health Stadium. "We made a couple bad pitches," said Crushers manager Dan Rohn. "There was a slider on one and missed the spot on a fastball that led to the runs. They doubled down the right field line and had the base hit to right center. We made two bad pitches." The loss is the fifth straight for the Crushers (34-44), who play two more games in a series against the Miners (45-34). Southern Illinois, which tied its season high with 17 hits, won its seventh-straight game. After battling back twice in the first four innings, the Crushers offense couldn't get anything going off of Southern Illinois relief pitcher Stevie Ledesma (4-1), who struck out nine batters in four-plus innings. "He threw the ball really well," Rohn said. "He throws 91 to 93 (mph), and he's got a pretty good slider. It's tough to hit in any league, and especially this one." "We fouled a lot of fastballs tonight or didn't swing through it," Rohn said. "We've got to hit the fastball and we couldn't do that tonight in the last half of the game." Southern Illinois roughed up Lake Erie starting pitcher Jake Pilarksi, who gave up four earned runs on four hits and only lasted until the middle of the third inning before a pitching change. The Miners got on the board first in the top of the second inning, loading the bases on back-to-back singles and a walk, and catcher Arturo Nieto took advantage with an RBI sacrifice fly to score a run. Jarrod Watkins followed with a two-run single up the middle that got past the glove of Crushers second basemean Trevor Achenbach for a 3-0 lead. The Crushers came right back and took the lead in the bottom of the second by stringing together a series of runs. Catcher Brian DeLaRosa started with a one-out homer to left field to make it 3-1. It was his second home run of the season. After a pair of two-out walks, Zach Racusin dropped a bloop single into shallow right field to score Nick Rotola. Trailing 3-2, Steven Kraft delivered a two-run infield single and beat out the throw to first base that scored both Eric Callahan and Racusin, who alertly ran from second base to home plate on the throw to first base and slid beneath the tag to score. The Crushers' 4-3 lead was short-lived. The Miners answered with four runs in the third, as Jamey Smart drove in a run to tie the game at 4-4, Jared Mang ripped a two-run homer to left field, and Watkins had an RBI triple for a 7-4 lead. Lake Erie loaded the bases in the fourth inning, making the most of the opportunity with three runs to tie the game. Kraft connected for an RBI single to bring Rotola across home, and a fielding error and fielder's choice scored two more runs that made it 7-7. "We had a chance to take the lead back. We didn't get it done," Rohn said. "We were battling. We're losing one-run ballgames and two-run ballgames by not executing in the right situations by making a bad pitch or not making the right throw to the right base." Prior to Tuesday, the Crushers dropped four straight games by two runs or less. Sam Curtis will likely start tonight for the Crushers, while the Miners will pitch Zach Westcott.