By WJBC Staff
NORMAL – The Normal CornBelters missed out on sweeping the Lake Erie Crushers Sunday afternoon as they lost 3-1 in a game that stranded 11 base runners for the Belters.
The Belters were the first to strike in the third inning. After Cameron Monger was walked and later stole second, center fielder Mark Micowski hit an RBI single to right field to bring in Monger.
The Crushers evened the score in the fourth with an unearned run as Ty Nelson hit a one-out double, reached third on a wild pitch and then came home on an error.
In the fifth inning the Crushers continued scoring with a two-out rally when outfielder Trevor Stevens hit a RBI double to make the score 2-1.
After seven and one-third innings Belters starter Mike Schweiss (2-4) sat down for the day and ended up with the hard luck loss. Victor Beriguete replaced Schweiss who had six hits, hit one batter and struck out nine batters without a walk.
In the sixth inning, Crushers reliever Trevor Longfellow took the bump for starter Brad Zambron (1-2) who gave up seven hits, two walks and one strikeout in his five innings.
The Crushers added a cushion to their lead when Austin Prott hit an RBI single out to center field in the ninth inning. Daniel DeSimone recorded the final two outs for his first save.
The Normal CornBelters (18-14) next travel to Chicago when they face off in a three-gamer with the Windy City ThunderBolts (14-16) on Tuesday night at 7:05.
