Hammond, Ind - The Parkside Rangers took the first game of the series over the Purdue Northwest Pride behind a late rally. The Rangers scored a run in both the eighth and ninth innings to outlast the Pride, 4-2.
How it happened:
As the season has progressed, Carter Storti has been Parkside's opening starter of the weekend. That continued on Thursday afternoon as Storti took the mound in Hammond, Indiana. Despite some traffic on the base path, Storti dealt two scoreless innings to begin the ballgame. In fact, he worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, keeping the game tied. However, things were quiet for the Rangers as well. They collected two hits but were unable to capitalize. After two innings, neither team had scored.
In the third inning, Storti was forced out of the game. The Pride tagged along the first run of the ballgame on an RBI double from Hayden Matulich. Austin Grube relieved Storti in the third inning and quickly got the Rangers out of the inning. The Pride had a 1-0 lead after three innings of baseball.
Meanwhile, the Rangers wasted no time responding. Carter Storti and Owen Brock sparked the inning with back-to-back singles in the top of the fourth. Next, Joe Hoeks bunted the two into scoring position and set up Jared Heinzen. Parkside stuck to the small ball game plan and followed with another bunt. Heinzen dropped one down the right field line, and scored Storti to tie the game at one.
For the second straight inning, the Pride got on the board. They tagged Grube for a run and took a 2-1 lead over the Rangers. However, Grube would settle in and was dominant for the rest of his appearance on the mound.
In the fifth inning, the Rangers got even. Angel Rades got the inning going with two outs, singling into center field. Jude Allen hit a high chopping ball to third, the throw to first was thrown away and Rades was able to score from first. Halfway through the ballgame, Parkside and Purdue Northwest were knotted up at two runs a piece.
Austin Grube got into a rhythm and didn't allow the Pride to beat him again in the game. He dealt four consecutive scoreless innings and performed at his best. Grube tossed a career-high 5.1 innings, allowing just five hits, and he collected a pair of strikeouts in the process.
Lightning struck in the top of the eighth inning as the Rangers took their first lead of the game. With two outs and nobody on, Storti and Brock once again collected back-to-back base hits. The hero this time was Joe Hoeks. Hoeks cranked an RBI double into left field, scoring Storti as the go-ahead run. Parkside took a 3-2 lead headed to the bottom of the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Grube wrapped up his tremendous appearance out of the bullpen. After allowing a single with one out, he had a timely double play led by Koto Sato to end the inning. Parkside went into the ninth with the lead.
Parkside needed an insurance run, and Emanuel Andujar Ferreira helped provide. Jared Heinzen began the inning with a base hit, and he followed it with a stolen base. After a throwing error to second, the Pride's fourth error of the game, Heinzen ended up at third base. He scored on an Andujar Ferreira RBI groundout, and Parkside led 4-2 with three outs to go.
The Rangers turned to Leo Burger once again. Burger made things interesting, allowing a hit then a walk to begin the inning. But, he bounced back with three straight strikeouts to end the baseball game. This marked Burger's fifth save of the season which is second best in the GLIAC.
Austin Grube is now 4-0 after being credited with the victory on the mound. The Rangers improved to 18-22 overall and 7-15 in GLIAC play. They are currently in a tie with the Pride for fifth place in the conference.
Next:
Parkside and Purdue Northwest will play a twin bill on Saturday. It's Senior Day for Parkside and the game will be played at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. The games will begin at 1:00 pm. For coverage of the event, visit ParksideRangers.com/coverage.
