GRIZZLIES DROP RAIN-SHORTENED OPENER IN SCHAUMBURG
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — On a stormy Friday night at Boomers Stadium, the Gateway Grizzlies (18-41) built a 3-0 lead going to the bottom of the fifth inning, but they allowed four runs to lose a rain-shortened game 4-3 to the Schaumburg Boomers (38-19).
With the skies threatening, Schaumburg shortstop Josh Gardiner launched a three-run homer to tie the game in bottom of the fifth inning before former Grizzlie Ryan O'Malley worked a walk to give the Boomers their eventual winning margin.
The teams were pulled off the field prior to the bottom of the sixth inning, and the game was called shortly thereafter.
Gateway scored in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by Joel McKeithan, his 13th RBI in 17 games with the Grizzlies this year. Dan Holst came in to score.
Ramon Osuna drove his first home run as a Grizzlie out to left field in the fifth inning — a two-out, two-run, opposite field blast that also scored Blake Brown. That's no small feat in Schaumburg, where the left field wall stands 355 feet from home plate.
Will Landsheft (3-7) took the loss for Gateway. All four runs were earned over his five innings. He struck out four and allowed six hits.
Matt Hearn went 1-3 with a second-inning single, extending his hitting streak to 20 games. Osuna finished 2-3; Brown went 2-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Gateway continues against Schaumburg in the middle game of a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Saturday. All of the action can be heard on the Grizzlies Media Network.
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ABOUT THE GATEWAY GRIZZLIES: The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 100-yards from I-255 (10 minutes from downtown St. Louis). The Grizzlies offer baseball fans entertainment, the likes of which are difficult to find - affordable, family, fun in the comfortable GCS Credit Union Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. For tickets or general information please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call 618.337.3000.
ABOUT THE FRONTIER LEAGUE: The Frontier League is celebrating its 25th season as a professional, independent baseball organization. Since its inception, the Frontier League has provided millions of fans to a fun and exciting baseball experience within the American Midwest. Consisting of 12 teams in two divisions and 96 game schedules, the league is recognized for the amount of talented athletes that are picked up by various MLB teams every year.