Freedom Jump out to Early Lead and Hold on to Sweep Joliet

August 23, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Joliet Slammers (Florence, KY) - The Florence Freedom (49-38) scored two runs in the first and never trailed as they knocked off the Joliet Slammers (35-52) by a final score of 5-2 Thursday night.

Tommy Mendoza (4-6) tossed eight innings, his longest outing as a Slammer, and struck out a personal best with Joliet nine batters but took the loss.

An Eddie Rodriguez home run, his fourth of the series, put Florence up 2-0 in the first inning. They tacked on an unearned run in the second when a run scored on a Kyle Zimmerman error.

Joliet rallied to cut the Florence lead to 3-2 in the top of the third. With one away Zimmerman singled. Matt Mirabal reached base as well and a passed ball moved both runners up 90 feet. Brad Netzel smacked a RBI grounder and Abel Nieves followed with a RBI single to drive in the second run of the game for Joliet.

But that was all the offense they'd get as the Freedom answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded and nobody out Drew Rundle drew a walk and Jim Jacquot followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.

Neither team scored after that as Mendoza settled down and pitched really well after the third inning.

Brad Allen (2-1), in his first professional start, went seven innings, scattering eight hits and giving up two runs to pick up the win.

Joliet will try to break their nine-game losing streak Friday night as they welcome the River City Rascals to town. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. and it's the last home series of the year for Joliet. After the game fans will be treated to a spectacular fireworks show.

The Joliet Slammers are members of the Frontier League of Professional Baseball. The Frontier League is the oldest continuously operating independent professional league, in its 20th season in 2012. For more information about the Frontier League visit http://www.frontierleague.com.

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Freedom Jump out to Early Lead and Hold on to Sweep Joliet