LOVES PARK, Ill. – Gateway catcher Landon Hernandez hit a first-inning grand slam and drove in six runs Tuesday night to propel the Grizzlies to a 9-3 victory over the Rockford RiverHawks.
Hernandez’s blast, his fourth homer of the season, off the scoreboard in left-center field with two outs in the top of the first inning off Rockford’s Jordan Liette gave the visitors an early 4-0 lead.
“He got his pitch and did what he was supposed to do with it,” manager Rich Austin said.
“He got his pitch and did what he was supposed to do with it,” manager Rich Austin said.
Hernandez picked up an RBI on an error in the third inning, and he would pick up another in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly to make the Gateway lead 6-2. Hernandez came into the game struggling in the early part of the season, hitting just .206 with three homers and 14 RBI.
Pat Arnold (2-0) gave up three runs over six innings to earn the win. Liette (0-1) was credited with the loss as he gave up five runs in three innings of work.
Pat Arnold (2-0) gave up three runs over six innings to earn the win. Liette (0-1) was credited with the loss as he gave up five runs in three innings of work.
The RiverHawks squandered opportunities to do more damage off Grizzlies’ pitching. In the second inning, the first three Rockford batters reached base, including Greg Van Horn’s RBI double to cut the lead to 4-1, but Mike Thomas lined into a double play to shortstop that doubled Van Horn off second base.
In the third inning, Rockford’s Ted Obregon was called out for not touching home plate after tagging up on a fly ball off the bat of Steve Anderson. The RiverHawks would score once in the fourth inning, but Daniel Gonzalez flew out to center field to leave the bases loaded. Rockford also left the bases loaded in the seventh inning.
Michael Hur launched his team-leading seventh homer of the season for Rockford in the loss.
Antone DeJesus went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI for Gateway while Chris McClendon went 2-for-3 with four runs scored.
Rockford begins a six-game road trip by traveling to Normal Wednesday to open a three-game series with the CornBelters. The RiverHawks send Cody Hallahan (1-2, 5.33 ERA) to the mound, and the CornBelters will counter with Tyler Stovall (1-4, 6.65 ERA). Each night of the series is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start.
The RiverHawks are members of the Frontier League, an independent professional baseball league in its 20th season. Games are broadcast on NTA-FM (100.5) Advertising and ticket information is available by calling (815) 885-2255. Fans can also visit www.rockfordriverhawks.com.
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