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Miners stay hot in victory

By Todd Hefferman, The Southern

Monday, June 25, 2007 7:09 AM CDT

MARION - The Southern Illinois Miners spent their first scheduled off-day at the ballpark as part of an inflicted morning practice.

The expansion team had started out 3-8 when Miners manager Mike Pinto asked the squad to bring their gloves and bats June 3. Since that day, the squad captured 15 of their last 21 games, and earned the first series sweep in franchise history Sunday.

Pinto told his players to stay away from Rent One Park today after the Miners got four RBIs from Ralph Santana and six strong innings from Brian Blomquist in a 13-3 romp over Slippery Rock.

"Some of the guys said 'Hey, maybe we'll come in for a little bit.' No. I told them to stay away from the ballpark," Pinto said. "They've earned this day off."

Scott Simon and Willie Keene made Pinto and the 6,068 fans forget the top of the first inning quickly in the bottom half. Santana and Ryan Kane reached to start the Miners' first and came around to score on Simon's sacrifice fly and Keene's RBI single.

Slippery Rock (8-23) scored its three runs in the top of the first but stranded all eight of its baserunners the rest of the way to fall for the third straight time in Marion. The Miners (18-14), who pulled to the .500 mark one week ago, scored five runs in the second inning to seal the victory.

Simon and Tim Dorn singled in three of the five runs in the second, which saw the Miners bat around and chase Sliders starter Derek Duclos (0-4).

Blomquist allowed eight hits but only three runs to pick up his first win of the season. The right-hander from the University of Illinois escaped jams in the fourth and fifth and struck out three.

"Early on he was trying to get a feel for the strike zone, trying to keep the ball down," Pinto said. "He made the adjustments, and got a little tired. It was a hot day, I just wanted to get him out of there."

Brian Wilburn pitched two innings and Rick Hummel got the final three outs for Southern Illinois, which returns to the field Tuesday to open a three-game homestand.

Kevin Koski, a former outfielder at Southern Illinois University, had three hits and scored twice to raise his batting average to .417 in 12 at-bats. Koski went 3-for-4 with a double and two singles.

"It was more just calming myself down," Koski said. "I was really nervous the first couple games. My first game in center, they sold a lot of tickets. I think it was like a sellout my first game, and I was a little nervous. I felt pretty good today."

The team's next off-day will come July 10-12 with the all-star break. The Miners' next scheduled off-day is July 22, which will precede a seven-game homestand.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087@thesouthern.com / 351-5087