Hur's big night lifts RiverHawks

06/11/2012 10:17 PM - LOVES PARK, Ill. – Michael Hur’s two-homer night and Ziggie VanderWall’s strong outing on the mound Monday helped the Rockford RiverHawks prevail 12-8 over the Windy City ThunderBolts in the series opener.  Hur’s first homer, a solo shot to left field off starter Mike Recchia in the fourth inning , gave Rockford a 3-2 lead. The RiverHawks would score four runs in the fifth inning, all after two outs, capped off by an opposite-field, three-run homer by Hur, his team-leading sixth of the year, to put Rockford ahead 7-2. Hur added an RBI infield single in the eighth inning to finish 3-for-5 with five RBI, the second straight day a Rockford player tallied that mark as Javier Herrera was 4-for-5 with five RBI in a 16-5 win over the Miners Sunday.  “We have a quality middle of the lineup guy (Hur) batting in the seventh hole. He’s an excellent hitter,” manager Rich Austin said. Ziggie VanderWall (2-1) earned the win on the mound for Rockford,  pitching 5 2/3 innings while giving up six hits and four runs, three earned, walking three, and striking out eight batters, including the first four batters of the game. Recchia (3-1) was saddled with the loss as he gave up 10 hits and nine runs, eight earned, while striking out 10 in 6 1/3 innings pitched to raise his season ERA from 1.37 to 3.31.  The ThunderBolts would two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to close the gap to 7-6, but the RiverHawks would score two in the seventh and three in the eighth to increase the lead to 12-6. Mickey Cassidy entered the game in the eighth inning and earned his first save of the season, giving up two runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched.  Javier Herrera went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, raising his season average to .410. Matt Greener went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI doubles, and Daniel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Chris Wade went 3-for-6 for the ThunderBolts, while Jereck West was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Rockford sends righty Mike Lee (0-0, 0.84 ERA) to the mound to make his second start of the season on Tuesday, and Windy City will counter with righty Stephen Sauer (2-0, 2.31), with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. 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.