Miners split with Panners

FAIRBANKS — Bill Cullen must like Fairbanks.

The Mat-Su Miners outfielder and Virginia Commonwealth product smacked three home runs to lead the Miners to a doubleheader sweep of the Alaska Goldpanners at Growden Park in Fairbanks Wednesday.

Cullen blasted a two-run home run during the fourth inning of the first game of the doubleheader to lead the Miners to a 10-0 win. He followed with a pair of two-run shots in the second game as Mat-Su routed the Panners 16-8.

Cullen finished the doubleheader 5 for 8, with six RBI and four runs scored. The 5-foot-9 outfielder now leads the Alaska Baseball League with six home runs.

Dallas Baptist product Jay Calhoun pitched a six-hit, complete-game shutout to lead Mat-Su to the 10-0 victory. Calhoun, who lowered his earned run average to 1.38, fanned seven and didn’t walk a batter.

Cullen used his homer to give the Miners the 2-0 lead in the fourth. Erik Harbutz hit a three-run shot in the fifth to blow the game open for the Miners.

Cullen was 3 for 3 in the win. Outfielder Ian Miller finished 3 for 4. Harbutz, Clint Freeman and Nash Knight finished with two hits each.

Mat-Su used 15 hits to score the 16-8 win over the Panners in the nightcap. Freeman and Branden Berry finished with three hits each. Freeman also homered and drove in four runs.

The Panners took an early 3-1 lead in the game, but Mat-Su scored four in the third inning.

Bobby Boyd singled and scored on a Freeman hit, and Berry doubled to drive in a pair of runs. Later in the inning, Berry scored on a Chris Taladay single.

The Miners added three more in the fourth. P.J. Torres and Ian Sagdal led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Both runners also scored. Boyd singled and scored late in the inning.

Mat-Su tacked on seven runs during the final two innings. Cullen had two-run homers in both the sixth and the seventh.

Peter Kaplan earned the win on the mound in relief. He pitched a scoreless 2 1/3 innings and fanned four hitters.

The Panners secured the four-game series split with a 7-2 win on Thursday. Freeman, Mat-Su’s two-way standout, started on the mound, but the Panners attacked the East Tennessee State product for six runs on eight hits in two innings.

Cullen and Berry finished with two hits each in the loss. Berry drove in both runs.

Mat-Su also suffered a 6-2 loss to the Panners Tuesday night.

The Miners now have a pair of off-days before making the short trip to Chugiak to face the Chinooks Sunday at 5 p.m. at Loretta French Field.

Mat-Su dropped to 11-17 with Thursday’s loss.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.