TOPOOZIAN, BULLPEN DOMINATE IN GATEWAY SHUTOUT
CRESTWOOD, Ill. — After the Gateway Grizzlies' pitching staff tossed nine innings without an earned run (but had five unearned runs score against them) Thursday, they kept it rolling Friday with their first shutout of 2019 in a 3-0 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts at Ozinga Field.
Dominic Topoozian (3-0) tossed six-plus scoreless innings and allowed only three hits. He struck out two and walked two for his third win in as many starts for the Grizzlies this season. His ERA for the year is down to 2.12.
Gateway (11-14) opened the scoring in the third inning: Cody Brickhouse doubled off the left-field wall and scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Brent Sakurai, who then scored on a two-out Andrew Daniel RBI double, his Frontier League-leading 10th two-bagger and 14th extra-base hit of the season.
Brickhouse added the third Grizzlies run in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single to drive home Ryan Kirby.
For the second day in a row, the Grizzlies' bullpen shut the door with authority. Jason Seever, Dakota Smith, and Grant Black pitched a scoreless inning each. Black earned his fifth save of 2019 in six opportunities.
Over the last two games, the Grizzlies' bullpen has thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed only two hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. The pitching staff has worked 20 straight innings without allowing an earned run, including the entirety of the last two games.
Windy City (12-13) was held to four hits.
Brickhouse finished 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and an RBI. Shawon Dunston Jr. went 2-for-4 for the only other Grizzlies multi-hit game.
Gateway will try for its first three-game winning streak of the year Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CDT in game two of its three-game series against the ThunderBolts.
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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 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 10 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.