Stellar pitching and clutch hitting improves Mat-Su to 3-1

PALMER – Miners Head Coach Tyler LeBrun kept his faith in center fielding Sebastian Tomerlin.

Just a day after striking out four times against the Glacier Pilots, LeBrun kept Tomerlin in the lineup on Friday against the Oilers. The outfielder from Central Arizona CC was 0-for-12 as he dug in his cleats in the left-handers' batter box in the bottom of the fourth.

The bases were loaded with two outs, and Mat-Su trailed 2-0.

After fouling off multiple two-strike pitches, Tomerlin laced a ball right over Penisula’s second baseman Brett Grupe for a two-run single to tie the game.

“He’s (Tomerlin) a special talent,” LeBrun said. “Right before he went up to the plate I just told him to keep hunting fastballs and trust his hands and that was a huge hit for us to get us back in the ballgame. He’s a special guy... there was no doubt that he was going to be in our lineup.”

Two batters later, shortstop Emilio Barreras, who was batting second in the order for the first time this season, hit a three-run double to open up the contest. There would be no scoring from either team from that point forward.

A pair of Incarnate Word pitchers took the mound for the Miners on Friday. Starter Ryan Schlotzhauer went two innings and relief pitcher Larry Westall got the save, tossing two scoreless innings. Westall just arrived in Alaska and notably pitches from a sidearm angle.

But the main story on the bump for Mat-Su was Murray State product, Ethan Lyke. In five innings, Lyke struck out seven batters. He had a rocky first inning of relief, allowing a double, an RBI single, and hit a batter (third baseman Ty Thomas). But he settled down from that point on. Lyke ended each of the innings 5-7 with a strikeout. His movement was working once again.

Another subplot of Friday’s 5-2 victory was the hit-batters. The Miners plunked six Oilers. Schlotzhauer began the game by hitting center fielder Khadim Diaw on the very first pitch; then, hit the second batter Michael Elko. He hit Diaw again in the second inning. Lyke nailed the aforementioned Thomas in the third and then got left fielder Ben Griffin in the seventh. Westall hit Thomas in the eighth.

LeBrun said that the wind played a factor in the hit batters.

Also of note - Miners catcher Austin Machado was back in the starting lineup after an off day on Thursday. Machado grabbed his first two hits of the season, singling in both the 2nd and 6th innings.