After coasting to a 9-0 victory in the first game of the doubleheader, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, came from behind to win the second game, 5-2, tallying their eighth straight win on Saturday against the Normal Cornbelters at The Corn Crib.
Cody Gray (2-0) pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout in the first game, while Garrett Vail provided the hitting heroics, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and six runs batted in.
The Freedom (8-0) jumped out to a five-run lead in the top of the first. Andrew Godbold plated Daniel Fraga on a triple and scored on a Collins Cuthrell double. Jordan Brower followed with a run-scoring single, and Vail homered to left field to cap the rally against CornBelters (3-5) starter Corey Kimes (0-1).
Gray scattered three hits and walked two while striking out four. Normal came closest to scoring in the first inning, when Cuthrell threw out Nolan Meadows at the plate from right field as the latter attempted to score from second on a single.
Florence also took an early lead in the second game, but the one-run advantage disappeared on a game-tying sacrifice fly by Santiago Chirino in the third inning. Normal took its first lead of the series in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases against Freedom starter Marty Anderson (1-0), who allowed just a RBI-groundout before escaping the inning without further damage.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the fifth, Jose Brizuela and Andre Mercurio hit consecutive two-out singles to chase starter Tyler Ihrig (0-1). Nigel Nootbaar entered and promptly surrendered a game-tying RBI-single to Cuthrell and a go-ahead infield single to Brower that bounced high over the mound. The Freedom would add two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch and an Austin Wobrock RBI-single to left field.
Patrick McGrath and Matt Pobereyko turned in perfect sixth and seventh innings, respectively, with the latter earning his third save to end the evening.
The Freedom will play for the series sweep on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 4:35 p.m. at The Corn Crib. Right-hander Eli Garcia will start for Florence against CornBelters right-hander Charlie Gillies.
Group tickets and season ticket plans are currently on sale for the 2017 campaign. Fans can guarantee seating for premium promotional dates by calling the Freedom at 859-594-4487.
