Jul 16, 2016 4 min read

Trevor Foss wasn’t used to being in these situations.

He had just made his second pitch of the game and it landed over the right-field fence at Consol Energy Park.

Not the type of start one would expect from a candidate for Frontier League Pitcher of the Year.

It would get worse later in the game, when Southern Illinois chased Foss with two runs in the top of the eighth inning and won the game, 4-3, Saturday night in front of 2,112 fans at Consol Energy Park.

“It’s never easy,” said Southern Illinois manager Mike Pinto. “Our team is a confident team. Foss is one of the best in the league, so when you get one from him like that, that’s a good win.”

The win was the second in a row for Southern Illinois over Washington and assures the Miners will win this three-game series. The Wild Things will try to salvage the final game of the series today at 5 p.m.

Foss came into the game with a 7-2 record and 2.36 ERA. He left with two outs in the eighth after giving up an RBI double to Alex DeLeon that gave the Miners a 4-3 lead. Craig Massey just tied the game with a single that scored Aaron Gates. Foss went 7 1/3 innings, gave up eight hits, four earned runs, struck out six and walked one.

“We didn’t win. We didn’t finish the game. That’s all,” said a disappointed Wild Things manager Gregg Langbehn. “Foss pitched great. He settled in (after the home run) and threw some great pitches and the pitch count was good. Things just got away from him a little bit.”

The Wild Things left a runner on second base in the eighth and got runners to second and third in the ninth before Miners closer Adam Lopez got Austin Wobrock to ground out to short to end the game.

“We scored three runs and it was with three solo home runs,” Langbehn said. “You can’t just survive on long balls.”

Dan Ludwig pitched one of the best games of the season. He went seven innings, struck out a career-high nine and did not walk a batter. He gave up three solo home runs, one each to Chris Grayson in the first, Kyle Pollock in the second and Grant Fink in the seventh. The home run by Fink gave the Wild Things a short-lived 3-2 lead.

“If you don’t put guys on base and just give up solo home runs, you can come back from that,” said Pinto. “You walk two and give up a home run, that’s a big bit for your team to get back.”

Most had not settled into their seats before Foss gave up a home run to Miners leadoff hitter Aaron Gates, who deposited his sixth of the season. It was only the third home run given up by Foss this season.

It took only three batters for the Wild Things to tie the game in the bottom of the first. Chris Grayson, a left-handed hitter like Gates and also a center fielder, crashed his first home run as a Wild Things player over the right-field fence. Grayson was playing in his seventh game since signing with Washington.

The Wild Things took a 2-1 lead on a solo home run by catcher Kyle Pollock in the bottom of the second inning. It was Pollock’s first home run of the season in 16 games.

But Southern Illinois tied the game, 2-2, in the fifth inning. Edison Sanchez drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a single by Francisco Rosario. A fielder’s choice moved Sanchez to third base and he scored on a single to left field by Nolan Earley.