Miners play to draw with Lake Erie

PALMER — The Mat-Su Miners settled for a tie in their final contest of a five-game nonleague stretch that opened their 2014 season.

Mat-Su, which opens Alaska Baseball League play against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Friday in Anchorage, played to a 3-3 draw with the Lake Erie Monarchs Thursday at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

The nonleague game, which ended at 9:35 p.m., was suspended after nine innings. The contest does not count toward official league standings.

Mat-Su led 3-2 late, but the Michigan-based Monarch scored the game-tying run in the top of the eighth inning. Mat-Su reliever Spencer Jack pitched a perfect ninth inning to preserve the tie.

The Miners scored a run in each of the first two innings to stake the early 2-0 lead, but Lake Erie plated a pair in the fourth to tie the game at 2. Cameron Frost, Paul Panaccione and Nick Senzel each finished with a pair of hits in the win. Panaccione, Senzel and Terrence Connelly scored runs. Frost, Senzel and Dayne Wunderlich had an RBI each.

Mat-Su used five pitchers in the game. Hayden Howard started. He fanned six, walked three, and allowed no hits and an earned run over four innings.

Mat-Su is now 2-1-1 in four nonleague games.