Lukas Veinbergs pitched seven strong innings in the Grizzlies’ win over Lake Erie on Thursday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Frontier League | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Erie Crushers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Gateway Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 4 | 11 | 1 |
WP: Lukas Veinbergs (4-4) LP: Cal Carver (2-2) SV: Leoni De La Cruz (11)
SAUGET, IL — The Gateway Grizzlies picked up a big time, rubber game win Thursday night.
Gateway fell behind early twice, rallied to tie twice, then scored two huge runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull off a 4-2 Frontier League Baseball win over the Lake Erie Crushers in a game at Grizzlies Ballpark.
A crowd of 1,871 saw the Grizzlies take home a big win, which allowed the club to regain a three-game lead over the Crushers for second place in the West Division standings with just 15 games left on the schedule for the season.
Lake Erie took the first lead of the game, when Jarrod Watkins smacked the third pitch of the game from Gateway’s Lukas Veinbergs over the right field fence for a home run and a 1-0 Crushers lead.
The Grizzlies answered in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to an RBI basehit by Dale Thomas that scored Peter Zimmermann to make it 1-1.
The Crushers re-took the lead in the sixth, when a runner scored on a Gateway fielding error that put the visitors up 2-1. But the Grizzlies answered right back in the bottom of the sixth, with a bomb home run to right by Cole Brannen — his fifth dinger of the season — that once again tied the score at 2.
After Veinbergs pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, Gateway took its first lead in the bottom half.
New Grizzlie Victor Castillo led off with a single, then moved to second when Abdiel Diaz walked. That put two runners on with nobody out for Kevin Krause, who came through in a big way. He lined a ground-ruled double down the left field line that scored Castillo and put Gateway ahead 3-2.
Two batters later, Kyle Gaedele singled home Diaz to make the score 4-2 Grizzlies.
From there, Gateway turned to its bullpen. Matt Hickey pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Leoni De La Cruz did the same in the ninth to close out the game and pick up his 11th save of the season.
Veinbergs (4-4) got the win. It was his second straight dynamite pitching performance.
He went 7 2/3 innings in a win over Evansville on August 9, and on Thursday, the veteran righthander went seven innings and allowed the two runs on just four hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.
Gateway (48-32) will now head back on the road for a weekend series against the Windy City ThunderBolts.
The Grizzlies will return home for a three-game set, next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday against the Florence Y’alls.
UPCOMING GATEWAY GRIZZLIES BASEBALL GAMES
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 16, 2024 (Friday) | 6:35 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| August 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 6:05 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| August 18, 2024 (Sunday) | 1:05 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| August 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| August 21, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| August 22, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |