RiverHawks outslug Road Warriors 17-9, earn sweep

08/30/2012 9:41 PM - LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Rockford RiverHawks set season highs in runs and hits Thursday and beat the Road Warriors 17-9 to earn the series sweep in their home finale at RiverHawks Stadium.  Rockford tallied a season-high 21 hits, with seven batters recording mult-hit games.   “They’ve been hitting the ball hard and having good at-bats all season,” manager Rich Austin said.  The RiverHawks led 8-4 after two innings behind Evan Button and Trevor Whyte home runs, but the Road Warriors scored once in the third and three times in the fourth to chase starter Ziggie VanderWall and tie the game at 8-8.  The offense answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring the go-ahead run as Evan Button stole third base and scored on an errant throw by catcher David Roney.  Tyree Hayes (1-0) allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings and got the win. Mickey Cassidy pitched three innings of scoreless relief for Rockford. Scott Foster (0-1) was the loser as he allowed two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. The RiverHawks scored six more runs in the eighth inning off Chris Kaminski to put the game out of reach. Michael Hur and Matt Greener each had four hits in the Rockford win. Trevor Whyte went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Jet Butler was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Aaron Glaum hit his first homer of the year to lead off the game for the Road Warriors. Ben Magsig also slugged his first homer of the year in the first inning. With the win, the RiverHawks improved to 40-53 and have won four straight. The Road Warriors fell to 8-25. The RiverHawks close the season with a three-game series at the Gateway Grizzlies starting Friday. The pitching matchup for the opener is Rockford’s Nick Anderson (1-3, 6.51 ERA) against Gateway’s Brett Zawacki (1-2, 5.40 ERA).  “We are playing good ball right now.   I’m just telling the guys to relax and play. The pressure’s on Gateway,”  Austin said. 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.