May 25, 2013 3 min read

The Wild Things have a new promotion in which every fan wins a free McDonald’s sandwich if a predetermined batter from the visiting team strikes out.

That batter Saturday night was Southern Illinois right fielder Ken Gregory.

However, there were no Big Macs for the fans because Gregory had a whopper of a game.

Gregory hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Southern Illinois snapped Washington’s four-game winning streak by defeating the Wild Things 10-5 at Consol Energy Park.

Washington and the Frontier League defending champion Miners have 4-4 records.

Gregory was 2-for-4 and hit a three-run opposite-field homer in the third inning off Washington starter Shawn Blackwell (0-2), who labored through five messy innings. Gregory also had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning that pushed the Miners’ lead to 7-2.

Gregory, who was key player in the Miners’ postseason run last year, entered the game batting only .200 with no home runs.

Tyler Stubblefield hit a solo home run for Southern Illinois in the sixth inning, and Cannon Lester had a run-scoring triple in the ninth.

Southern Illinois starter Blake Nation (1-0) was in control until the sixth inning, retiring 13 of 15 Washington batters at one stretch. Nation gave up six hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out eight.

In the sixth, the Wild Things scored three runs and trimmed the Miners’ advantage to 8-5. Washington had doubles in the sixth from A.J. Nunziato, Gus Benusa and C.J. Beatty, but the latter was thrown out to trying to stretch his hit into a triple, ending the inning. The Wild Things never threatened again as Southern Illinois relievers Matt Sergey and Brandon Cuniff combined for three hitless and scoreless innings.

Blackwell, who was a hard-luck loser at Schaumburg in his first outing, gave up 10 hits, two walks and seven runs (six earned). He pitched behind in the count to the majority of batters.

Hepple pitched three innings and kept the Wild Things within striking distance by giving up only two hits and the home run by Stubblefield, the first batter he faced. The Wild Things’ second-round draft pick at the recent Frontier League tryout, Hepple struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Southern Illinois tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth against former Miners relief pitcher Anthony Collazo, who was acquired in a tarde with the Miners late last season.

Prior to the game, Washington activated Nunziato, the team’s starting shortstop last year, from the disabled list and released rookie infielder Mike August. Nunziato had been sidelined since spraining an ankle in the first exhibition game of the season. August, who played at Millersville University last year and had a good spring training with the Wild Things, played in only three games (one start) and going 0-for-3 with one strikeout. … Attendance was 1,402. … Benusa was 3-for-5. Nunziato was 2-for-3 in his season debut and reached base three times. … The series concludes with a 5:05 p.m. game today with Justin Hall (1-0) pitching for Washington. The Wild Things then begin a six-game road trip Tuesday at Joliet before going on to Windy City. Washington plays 12 of its first 15 games on the road.