Right-hander, Zak Spivy worked quick and performed well en route to a quality-start, but the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, dropped the middle-game, 2-1, to the Southern Illinois Miners on Wednesday night at Rent One Park.
Southern Illinois (46-34) used an RBI-single from Arturo Nieto to score the first run of the contest in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Freedom (48-34) hurler, Zak Spivy tossed 7 one-run innings, scattering five hits and walking two, with two whiffs in a no-decision.
Florence evened the score in the fifth, plating a run off Miners ace, Chase Cunningham (9-4), when Luis Pintor stroked a single to center that scored Austin Wobrock who walked to lead off the inning.
Cunningham would allow one earned run over 8 strong innings, fanning seven and walking a pair in what became the ninth victory of the season for the right-hander.
With reliever, Jared Cheek (0-1) on the hill in the bottom of the eighth, Southern Illinois scratched across the eventual game-winning run.
A lead-off walk to Kirvin Moesquit started the rally, and Omar Obregon bunted the runner to second.
After Yeltsin Gudino dropped a single into right to put runners on the corners, Gianfranco Wawoe plated the go-ahead run, by reaching first on an error by third baseman Trevor Craport that gave the home team a 2-1 edge. The miscue was the second of the game for Florence, which has now made 70 errors in 2019.
Cheek suffered the loss, allowing the unearned run, but kept his ERA at 0.00 in five appearances with the Freedom.
Toeing the rubber for the second time in as many games in the ninth for Southern Illinois, Gabe Gentner closed the door on save number 10 of the season, stranding the tying run at third base.
Florence will try to snap their five-game losing streak in the series finale at Rent One Park on Thursday. Lefty, Mike Castellani (6-2, 2.81) will take the ball for the Freedom opposite southpaw, Cole Cook (1-0, 3.60) of the Miners with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. CDT.
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
