Small ball and timely two-out hitting allowed the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, to prevail over the Lake Eerie Crushers, 4-3, Friday at UC Health Stadium.
With two outs and the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the eighth, Jose Brizuela, Andre Mercurio and Collins Cuthrell came up with back-to-back-to-back singles off Crushers (25-32) starter Jordan Kurokawa (3-3) to push Florence (37-21) in front by the eventual final score of 4-3.
Lake Erie had started the scoring in the top of the second when Austin O’Brien drove a towering blast to left field, giving the Crushers a 1-0 advantage. The Freedom would answer in the bottom, however. After a pair of singles by Andre Mercurio and Collins Cuthrell, Jordan Brower plated Mercurio with a sacrifice fly to left field to even the score.
The Crushers regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning as Connor Oliver drove a homer to right field, putting Lake Erie back on top, 2-1.
Florence would tie the game again in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Austin Wobrock walked, stole second and advanced to third as the throw from catcher Tanner Lubach ended up in center field. Garrett Vail then plated Wobrock with a double, knotting the score at 2-2.
After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the sixth, Mercurio stole second base, tagged up on a Cuthrell fly ball to left and ultimately scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Kurokawa, giving Florence their first lead.
Lake Erie would answer in the top of the eighth, though, as Connor Simonetti led off with a double to centere that Mercurio lost in the lights before Josh McAdams tallied the tying run with a well struck single to tie the game with Jamal Wilson on the mound.
Cody Gray went seven strong innings, limiting the Crushers to two runs on five hits while striking out six. Pete Perez overcame a leadoff walk in the ninth to record the save.
The series continues Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at UC Health Stadium. Tony Vocca (5-3) will start for the Freedom against Lake Erie’s Connor Reed (2-6).
The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.
Florence Freedom
