Hoping to secure their first series sweep of the season, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, settled for a series victory.
The Freedom dropped game one of a Thursday doubleheader with the Washington Wild Things, 4-2, before running away with a, 9-3, victory in the finale at Wild Things Park.
Washington (3-10) opened the scoring in game one, plating a run on Tyler Gibson (2-1) courtesy a Hector Roa RBI-single in the bottom of the first.
The Freedom (7-5) would answer in the top of the fourth, thanks to a run-scoring double to left-center off the bat of Ricky Ramirez, scoring Andre Mercurio as the score stalemated at one apiece.
Lucas Herbert untied the score in the Wild Things next at-bat, ripping a three-run shot to left field as the home team moved ahead, 4-1, after four frames. Gibson would not allow another run, but suffered the loss spanning six innings and surrendering four earned runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in his first defeat of the season.
Florence scratched across another run in the fifth, when Caleb Lopes tallied a sacrifice-fly, scoring Jackson Pritchard who singled to lead-off the inning.
Wild Things starting pitcher, John Havird, would not complete the inning of decision, pulled one-out shy as James Meeker (2-1) took over. Meeker would take the win, tossing two clean innings of relief before Zach Strecker slammed the door on save number three in the top of the seventh, preserving the, 4-2, Washington victory.
Game two started in opposite fashion, with the Freedom drawing first blood in the top of the second. Connor Crane provided the knock, extending his team-leading RBI total to eleven with a two-run single off lefty Nick Durazo (0-1).
Facing righty Ryan Hill in his Freedom regular-season debut, Washington cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third, getting an RBI-single from Shane Hughes to make the score, 2-1.
The Freedom would begin to pull away in the fourth, plating two more runs on an Isaac Benard one-bagger off Roberto Delgado to jump in front by three.
In the fifth inning, the visitors blew it open, sending ten men to the plate in a five-run frame. Austin Wobrock continued to burn his former team, driving in the first pair of runners with his fourth single of the series, giving Florence a, 6-1, advantage.
Mike Gulino followed suit one batter later, lacing an RBI-single that made it a six-run game. Right-hander, Dan Hlad would take over on the bump, but struggled with command for the second time in the series, walking two hitters and watching Wobrock cross home-plate on a wild pitch.
Pintor would plate the final run of the inning, lifting a sacrifice-fly that scored Gulino as Florence opened a, 9-1, lead. With the barrage, Florence successfully batted around for the third time in this three game series.
Saige Jenco gave the Wild Things a lift in the bottom of the fifth, touching em’ all after his second homer of the season, a two-run shot that made it, 9-3, the eventual final score.
Florence would use three pitchers in the frame, trotting out Karl Craigie and Ryan Mordecai (2-1) to find all three outs in the inning. Mordecai would take the win, recording the final out in the fifth before a clean bottom of the sixth. Sean Watkins took the mound in the seventh, pitching around a walk on his way to sealing the Freedom six-run victory.
Pintor was successful in extending his season-long hitting streak to twelve games, earning an infield single in game one before a two-hit showing in the night-cap.
The Freedom will be back in action on Friday when they welcome Southern Illinois to UC Health Stadium for a weekend set with the Miners.
Lefty, Scott Sebald will take the ball for Florence, opposite righty Austin Dubsky for the Miners with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m. Washington will remain at home over the weekend, as the Gateway Grizzlies travel to Wild Things Park for a three-game clash.
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
