CornBelters finish sweep of Slammers for 7th straight win

Posted on August 5, 2016

By WJBC Staff

JOLIET – The Normal CornBelters scored four times in the second inning and never trailed, completing a three-game sweep of the Joliet Slammers 8-2 for their seventh straight victory.

The CornBelters struck first in the second inning by scoring four runs on one hit. The first four hitters reached base off Joliet starter Sean Townsley, with a misplayed ground ball at first plating two runs followed by sacrifice flies by Elvin Rodriguez and Ty Morris.

The Slammers answered in the fourth inning with a lead-off walk to Carter Bell and a pair of one-out singles to score him.

The Belters countered in the sixth inning with a two-out homer to right by Dylan Kelly for a 5-1 lead.

Joliet led off the sixth with three walks and scored one on a sacrifice fly by Casey Fletcher to chop the Belters lead to 5-2.

The CornBelters extended their advantage to 6-2 in the eighth inning on a two-out single by Santiago Chirino to score Kelly. Nolan Meadows hit a towering two-run homer to right in the ninth inning for his 10th RBI of the series and his league-leading 21st home run.

Mike Schweiss (7-4) earned the win with five innings on the mound, giving up one earned run on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts. Sean Townsley (4-6) worked six innings and took the loss with five runs (three earned) on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

The road trip continues in Michigan this weekend as the CornBelters visit the Traverse City Beach Bums. Friday’s opener is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Central with right-hander Chris Carmain (4-6, 4.72 ERA) starting on the mound for Normal against Traverse City righty Austin Bembnowski (2-0, 8.13). The game can be heard live on WJBC.com at 5:50.

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