MARION -- The Southern Illinois Miners rallied from a five-run deficit Sunday to post a 6-5 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts and avoid being swept in their three-game weekend series at Rent One Park.
The Miners are now 26-40 with 30 games left in the Frontier League season. Their record is second-worst in the league ahead of only the Gateway Grizzlies, who come to Marion this week as the Miners' next opponent.
According to the Frontier League's website, the Miners and Grizzlies still hold the No. 2 and No. 3 respective spots in average attendance per game behind only Schaumburg, which has the best record in the league. The Miners' average attendance prior to Sunday's game was recorded as 3,219.
Windy City used a solo homer by Larry Balkwill in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth against Miners starter Chris Washington to build a 5-0 lead Sunday.
But the Miners, who didn't have a hit until the bottom of the fifth, rallied first with a hit by Ryan Sluder than led to a run and later with a double by Craig Massey that brought around London Lindley. A balk brought in Brett Wiley and the deficit was down to two runs.
Romeo Cortina's two-run triple tied it and Nolan Earley hit into a fielder's choice to score Cortina with what proved to be the winning run.
Corey Sessions picked up the win in relief, with Kyle Grana coming in to strike out four of five batters before John Werner struck out two in the ninth for his 14th save.
Windy City won Friday's opener, 8-3, with six runs in the 11th inning after the Miners had taken a quick 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Earley in the first inning -- but didn't score again until the bottom of the 11th. The ThunderBolts scored two unearned runs in the eighth to tie it and spoil a strong start by Tyler Stubblefield.
In Saturday's middle game, Windy City scored three runs in the seventh inning for a 4-1 win. Southern Illinois plated its lone run in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out hit by Craig Massoni.
The Miners continue a long homestand against Gateway, but don't begin the series until Wednesday with a doubleheader starting at 6:05 p.m.
