The Florence Freedom scored five runs in the eighth inning Tuesday to come back and snap the River City Rascals’ 11-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory.
Florence (42-48) trailed briefly 2-1 after Kyle Gaedele’s RBI single in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, the Freedom sent nine to the plate, scored five runs, and took the lead for good.
Daniel Fraga led off the eighth with a base hit, his third of the game, lifting a ball down the left-field line. Taylor Oldham followed with a walk and then Godbold bounced a ball right in front of the plate.
Daniel Fraga led off the eighth with a base hit, his third of the game, lifting a ball down the left-field line (Freedom Photo)
The pitcher Nick Kennedy rushed the throw and it went wide of first base, sending Fraga home and Oldham and Goldbold into scoring position. Austin Newell then delivered a smash back up the middle to give Florence the lead 4-2. Later in the inning, Newell came home on a Jordan Brower RBI single, while Collins Cuthrell scored on a double steal.
Ethan Gibbons walked the first batter he faced in the ninth, but got River City’s 1-2-3 hitters out to wrap up the Freedom win.
Early in the ballgame, both starting pitchers held the opposition in check, but the Freedom were able to crack the scoreboard in the third. Travis Weaver started the rally by lacing a 0-2 pitch through the left side for a base hit. Fraga followed with a double down the right-field line and Oldham knocked in Weaver on a sacrifice fly to right.
Jordan Kraus found himself in a couple of jams early, but was able to escape from each of them. He stranded a runner at third in the second and left two on base in the fourth and the fifth. However, an unearned run against Kraus tied the score in the sixth.
After Kraus allowed a couple of base runners in the seventh, Pete Levitt got the Freedom out of the jam with a couple of quick outs.
The Rascals took the lead in the top of the eighth before the Freedom rallied in the bottom half of the inning to take the win.
Fraga had three hits, including a double and a run scored, while Brower chipped in with a multi-hit game as well. Newell drove in a team-high two. Tony Vocca took the win, despite allowing his first run as a reliever since July 24.
Alexi Colon had three of River City’s nine hits. The team needed three pitchers to get out of the eighth and Nick Kennedy took the loss.
The Freedom face the Rascals again Wednesday in a 10:35 a.m. first pitch. Cody Gray (7-3, 3.22 ERA) will take the ball for Florence against Austin Warner (4-1, 3.57 ERA). To learn more about the promotions for the Freedom’s final home series of 2016, click here.
From Freedom Communications
