LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Rockford RiverHawks and Normal CornBelters split a pair of seven-inning games on Wednesday night at RiverHawks Stadium.
In game one, the make-up game for a May 31 rainout, the RiverHawks trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning but rallied for four runs and held on to beat the CornBelters 7-6.
In that inning, Javier Herrera hit an RBI double, Michael Hur tied the game on a groundout, and Matt Greener doubled home Herrera to give Rockford the lead. Brandon Anderson followed with an RBI triple to score Greener.
The CornBelters hit three home runs in the game. Ty Wiesemeyer led off the game with a blast to right field off Drew Rucinski. Jason Thompson hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and Ernie Banks Jr. homered in the third inning.
Rucinski (5-1) pitched five innings, giving up 12 hits and five runs and striking out six to get the win. Daniel Britt (3-7) lost his fifth straight start, giving up seven runs on 11 hits in six innings.
Rockford’s Mickey Cassidy struck out the first two Normal batters in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Andrew Cohn doubled and scored on a Thompson single to close the gap to 7-6. Garrett Granitz relieved Cassidy and got Wisesmeyer to hit into a force play to end the game.
Michael Hur hit a two-run shot for the RiverHawks, his 14th of the season.
“He’s going up there with a plan, and when he gets a good pitch to hit, he’s putting good wood on it,” manager Rich Austin said.
Banks Jr. and Judah had three hits apiece for the CornBelters.
In game two, Normal’s Brendon Smith pitches five scoreless innings and Banks Jr. hit a two-run double to lift the CornBelters to a 3-1 victory over the RiverHawks.
Smith (1-3) scattered two hits and struck out two to pick up his first win of the season in the spot start. Rockford’s Kyle Schepel (3-2) took the loss. He gave up three runs on ten hits and struck out seven.
Sam Judah gave the CornBelters a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Schepel walked Thompson and hit Steven Felix with a pitch. Banks Jr. followed with the double to the left-center gap to plate Thompson and Felix.
Evan Button hit a solo home run in the sixth inning off Kyle DiMartino, his sixth of the season.
Rich Mascheri pitched a scoreless final inning to save his seventh game of the year.
The series resumes Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. as Normal sends Drew Provence (1-1, 8.49 ERA) to the mound, and Rockford counters with Ziggie VanderWall (5-3, 5.54 ERA).
Tomorrow is Perry Rock $1 beer night and American’s Bring it Home Thursday. One lucky fan will walk away with a 40” 1080p LCD TV.
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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