By: Matthew Gustafson
Joliet, IL – The Trois-Rivieres Aigles piled on seven runs in four innings Thursday to take the final game of their series with the Slammers.
Trois-Rivieres (12-11) scored first in the opening inning on a Steve Brown sacrifice fly, bringing home L.P. Pelletier for a 1-0 lead. Liam McArthur responded with a home run to right field for the Slammers (10-14) in the bottom of the third, tying the game at 1-1.
The Aigles sparked a multi-inning offensive rally in the top of the fourth inning when Luis Curbelo doubled to right-center field, scoring Brown. Dalton Combs flied out to center field and Brian Hernandez singled to left to add two additional runs, making the score 4-1.
Trois-Rivieres added an additional run each in the fifth and sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brendon Dadson and double to right-center field by L.P. Pelletier, extending the team’s lead to five runs.
The Aigles scored their final two runs on a Dalton Combs single to left field in the top of the seventh, scoring Curbelo and Brown to make it 8-1.
Jeissy De La Cruz added the second run of the game for Joliet in the bottom of the seventh when he singled through the left side to score Chris Davis. Trois-Rivieres limited the damage and maintained control for the rest of the game, finishing off an 8-2 victory to avoid the sweep.
Osman Gutierrez earned the win for the Aigles, allowing one run and striking out four batters in six innings. Zac Westcott was tagged with the loss for the Slammers, striking out two and allowing six earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched.
Joliet now begins a long road trip, starting this weekend with a three game series against the Washington Wild Things. The Slammers will return to Joliet on Friday, June 21, for Swiftie Night against the Florence Y’alls. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.
For information on season tickets, premium suites or group outings, please visit the Slammers’ official website at www.jolietslammers.com.
