The Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, won 4-3 in extra innings in the first game of Wednesdays doubleheader before dropping the nightcap, 5-1, against the River City Rascals at CarShield Field.

The Freedom (43-26) faced an early deficit in the first game, as Clint Freeman hit a RBI-double off Steve Hagen (5-4) in the second inning. But Florence tied the score in the third against Rascals (38-32) starter Dan Ludwig on a Taylor Oldham sacrifice fly that plated Austin Wobrock.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning, Andre Mercurio and Collins Cuthrell executed a double-steal, and catcher Mike Jurgellas throw to third was wild, allowing Mercurio to score the go-ahead run. Cuthrell scored on a Jordan Brower single.

Braxton Martinez homered in the bottom half to bring River City back within one run, and later, as the Freedom entered the bottom of the seventh three outs away from a win, Brandon Thomas led off with a game-tying home run over the tall right field wall. But in the eighth, consecutive doubles by Brower and Andrew Godbold put Florence back in the lead, 4-3, and Pete Perez overcame a pair of Rascals one-out singles to close out the win in the bottom of the inning.

Hagen earned the win in his Freedom debut, striking out five and walking only one while allowing seven hits over seven innings.

In the second game, the Freedom took a 1-0 second-inning lead against Reese Gregory. Brower reached on a fielders choice and advanced to third on a Godbold ground-rule double. Wobrock then scored Brower on a groundout to the shortstop.

But the lead would not hold, as Clint Freeman put the Rascals on top with a two-run homer to right-center in the bottom of the inning. The Rascals would not look back, adding three more runs in the third on a Paul Kronenfeld sacrifice fly, a RBI-triple by Jason Merjano and a Wobrock throwing error.

Florence would put at least one runner on base in three of the final five innings, but Gregory held the Freedom scoreless through the sixth while Cody Mincey finished the game with a perfect seventh.

The Freedom will look to salvage a series split in Thursdays finale. Right-hander Sam Brunner (0-0) will make a spot start for Florence, while right-hander Tim Koons (4-3) will pitch for River City. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at CarShield Field.

The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.

Florence Freedom

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Freedom split doubleheader with Rascals, go for series split before returning home this weekend - User-generated content (press release)...