In search of a series victory, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, saw an early two-run lead slip away in a 5-2 loss to the Southern Illinois Miners on Sunday at Rent One Park.
Daniel Fraga led off the game for the Freedom (54-31) with a double to the left-field wall and advanced to third on a passed ball. After a popout, Andrew Godbold plated Fraga as the game’s first run with a groundout to second. Andre Mercurio would follow with a single and steal second, before scoring on a base hit by Jordan Brower.
But in the bottom of the third, the Miners (34-50) took advantage of a fielding error by Fraga that allowed Brett Wiley to reach base safely. London Lindley laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Wiley to second, and Romeo Cortina trimmed the Florence lead to one run with a RBI-single.
Freedom starter Braulio Torres-Perez (5-2) surrendered a game-tying homer to Ryan Lashley leading off the home half of the fourth, and in the fifth, Southern Illinois took the lead. Lindley led off with a ground-rule double to left field, stole third and then scored the go-ahead run on a single by Ryan Sluder, who would later score on a fielder’s choice grounder.
Torres-Perez finished with five runs allowed (four earned) on seven hits over six and one-third innings and took the loss. Miners starter Zach Cooper (5-9), on the other hand, rebounded from his 29-pitch first inning to hold the Freedom scoreless through his final five innings of work, before turning the game over to relievers Kyle Tinius, Kyle Grana and John Werner.
Godbold managed a two-out walk against Werner in the ninth inning, his second base-on-balls of the evening, but was left stranded when Mercurio flew out to left field to end the game.
The loss, along with an Evansville win over River City, keeps the Freedom’s magic number to clinch the West Division at five, while the magic number to clinch a playoff berth is four.
The Freedom next face the River City Rascals at home for a doubleheader on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m. at UC Health Stadium. Florence will send Cody Gray (9-3) to the mound for the first game and Tony Vocca (8-5) for the second game, while River City has yet to announce its starters for the twinbill.
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
