Miners stall Glacier Pilots for the second time in three days, thanks to California Baptist stars

The Mat-Su Miners defeated the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 13-3 in eight innings Thursday night, dropping the Glacier Pilots to 5-6 and improving the Miners to 7-5 in the Alaska Baseball League standings.

The 13-3 score doesn’t show how close this game was at one point. The game was 5-3 going into the seventh inning before the Miners exploded for eight runs in the last two innings to end the game an inning early due to the run rule.

California Baptist pitcher Michael Malki got the start of the bump and would’ve gotten the player for the game if it wasn’t for fellow CBU player Carter Eberhard having a 4-for-4 game at the plate. Malki threw five innings, giving up two total runs, one earned, and struck out seven on his way to the win.

Five different Mat-Su Miners had a multi-hit day, including Ebhard’s 4-for-4 and two-RBI performance. Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit Thursday night.

After taking care of the Glacier Pilots, the Miners close out the homestand with a meaningful game against the Anchorage Bucs. The Bucs remain one game ahead of the Miners in the ABL standings, but if the Miners win Friday night, it would force a tie. At this point in the season, the Miners would hold the tiebreaker over Anchorage and claim first place for the first time in the regular season with a win.

Miners blank the Glacier Pilots 5-0 for their first shutout of the season

The Mat-SU Miners defeated the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 5-0 to start a four-game homestand at Hermon Brothers Field, dropping the Pilots to 4-5 and moving the Miners to 6-4 in the standings.

It was a battle for second place behind the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaska baseball league standings Tuesday night, but it’s the Miners' pitching that ensured the Mat-Su stayed in second place.

Sam Houston’s Connor Mondey got the start for the Miners and starred, throwing over five innings of work, allowing two hits and four walks and striking out five on his way to a “player of the game” performance. Long Beach State’s Collin Miskelly and Missouri State’s Gabe Smith kept the momentum for the pitching staff, surrendering just three total baserunners in the last three innings of the game.

The Miners’ offense did just enough, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth to finally break the scoreless tie. Carter Eberhard poked a two-RBI single, followed by another RBI single by Lincoln Stepenson to put the Miners up 3-0. The Miners added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth when Stephenson recorded another two-RBI single, giving him three total RBI on the day.

The Chinooks come back to Palmer Wednesday night before the Glacier Pilots replay the Miners on Thursday night.

Chinooks spoil Miners' comeback for the second time in less than a week

The Mat-Su Miners fell to the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks 10-8 on Wednesday night, falling to 6-5 in the standings and giving the Chinooks a third win in four games.

A quick look at the boxscore would tell a story of deja vu, as the Miners once again fell into a deep 8-0 hole after the top of the fifth before Mat-Su would erase the deficit and tie up the game after an RBI single from BYU’s Rdige Erickson in the bottom of the eighth.

However, the Miners blew the tie again at the top of the ninth, suffering a second devastating loss in just four days after erasing an 8-0 deficit vs the Chinooks last Sunday, only to give up three runs in the ninth inning to lose 12-9.

Gonzaga’s Michael Cunneely got the start for the Miners and quickly gave up a RBI double and a two-run single to make the game 3-0 after just three outs.

After a Nick Hockemeyer solo homerun in the top of the fourth, the Chinooks would plate four more runs in the top of the fifth off a combination of starter Michael Cunneely and Miner's relief arm Greyson Chappell.

However, the Miners refuse to lie down and quit when they are massively down in games. Mat-Su would respond in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring six runs of their own behind RBI hits from Evan Bilter, Eliot Medlock, and Greg Pierantoni. An RBI single by Ridge Erickson in the bottom of the sixth evaporated all but one run of the Chinooks' original 8-0 lead.

Erickson came through again in the eighth, getting his second RBI single to tie the game back up at 8-8.

That’s when the top of the ninth came again. Bowling Green’s Kade Arn would come in and record the first two outs of the inning before giving up a double to Chinook’s Jake Mitchell, a walk, and then another single to load the bases. That’s when Chinook’s Charlie Deaton would poke the third hit of the ninth into shallow center field to put the Chugiak back up 10-8.

A quiet bottom of the ninth would give Chugiak a second-straight win vs Mat-Su, after another rollercoaster game. The Miners will look to regroup vs the Glacier Pilots tomorrow night.