Grizzlies catcher Andres Regnault had three hits and two RBIs in Gateway’s 9-4 win over Lake Erie, Wednesday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget. (Photo by Nathan Assata)

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

The Gateway Grizzlies batted around twice and piled up eight runs in the first four innings to cruise to a 9-4 win over the Lake Erie Crushers, Wednesday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.

Every Gateway batter reached base at least once. And all but one had at least one hit, as the Grizzlies jumped out to a early lead and put the game away quickly.

Leading hitter Andres Regnault had three hits, two RBIs, and scored a run to lead the way. While teammates Ty Moore and Jay Prather each added two hits and two RBIs apiece in what is now Gateway’s third straight win over the Crushers.

The teams will play the final game of this series Thursday night at GCS. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Starting pitcher Jorge Tavarez (3-3) picked up his first win in more than a month by tossing five innings of shutout ball, while allowing Lake Erie just four hits and one walk. Tavarez also struck out three to earn his first individual win since an 8-2 victory over Lake Erie on June 9.

The two key parts of the game came in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, when the Grizzlies took over the game.

In the third, Gateway had seven straight batters reach base safely, including run-scoring hits by Moore and Regnault. Jay Prather also had an RBI fielder’s choice to put the Grizzlies on the board.

Then in the fourth, Gateway had seven batters reach safely again, including another set of RBI hits by Moore, Regnault, and Prather.

Additionally, Chase Vallot drove in two runs on a groundball to short that became an error on Lake Erie because the shortstop couldn’t field the ball cleanly.

The two wins over Lake Erie raised Gateway’s record to 20-29, while the Crushers fell to 24-24.