Miners extend win streak on road

ANCHORAGE — Shutouts on the mound. Late-inning work at the plate.

The Mat-Su Miners are finding different ways to notch victories early in the 2015 season, and Valley-based Alaska Baseball League squad is winning games in bunches.

Sunday, Mat-Su scored twice in the top of the ninth to snap at 3-3 tie and post a 5-3 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage. That win came less than 24 hours after Miners starter Eli Morgan fanned a dozen Pilots to lead the Miners to a 1-0 win over Anchorage in the Summer Solstice Game at Mulcahy.

Sunday’s victory was Mat-Su’s fifth straight. The Miners also hosted the Pilots Monday night at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer results were not available prior to press time. See frontiersman.com/sports for more.

Sunday in Anchorage, the Pilots rallied in the eighth, scoring a run to tie the game at 3. But Mat-Su had a quick answer. Mat-Su’s Vance Vizcaino singled to lead off the top of the ninth. It was the first of three straight singles for the Miners. Hunter Simmons followed wit a hit, and Vizcaino scored on a Jake Schleppenbach single.

Later in the inning, Tanner Nishioka singled to load the bases. With the Miners leading 4-3, Alex Caruso drew a walk with the bases loaded to drive in Schleppenbach, an insurance run for Mat-Su.

The Miners took an early lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first. Caruso, the lead-off batter in the game, worked the count full, and opened the contest with a single. Caruso scored on a Nyles Nygaard single to give the Miners a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Matt Diorio doubled, and drove in Nygaard.

Mat-Su finished with 11 hits in the game. Caruso, Nishioka and Brick Paskiewcz had two hits each. Five different Miners scored runs.

Brigham Hill started the game, and allowed two hits and two earned runs over five innings. He also struck out six. Corbin Martin pitched the final four outs for the Miners, and earned the victory in relief. Martin fanned two.

Saturday, Morgan allowed only one hit over six innings and struck out 12 in the annual Summer Solstice Game, which started at 10 p.m. Anchorage. Paskiewicz pitched the ninth to notch his fifth save of the season. Trent Thompson (2/3 inning) and Martin (1 1/3 inning) also helped the Miners record their second shutout during a four-game stretch in Anchorage.

Mat-Su’s Chris Hall scored the game’s lone run in the top of the first.

Following Monday’s contest, the Miners will have a two-day break. The Miners are currently scheduled to have consecutive days off only twice this year. Mat-Su returns to the field Thursday to face Chugiak at Loretta French Park in Chugiak.