The Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, took an eleventh-inning lead and fought off a Joliet rally in the bottom half to win the rubber game of the series, 7-6, on Sunday at Slammers Stadium.

With the score tied at 4-4, Andrew Godbold began the top of the eleventh on second base for the Freedom (42-24) as the International Tiebreaker Rule runner and advanced to third on an infield single by Austin Wobrock. Daniel Fraga delivered a RBI-single to give Florence the lead, and after a walk, Jose Brizuela grounded a double down the right field line to score two off reliever Brian McKenna (0-1).

But with Pete Perez pitching in the bottom of the inning and tiebreaker runner Melvin Rodriguez on second for the Slammers (30-34), Spencer Navin and Rock Shoulders each drew walks around a strikeout of Danny Zardon. After a popout, Luis Diaz drove a pitch to the wall in left field. Taylor Oldham fielded the carom off the wall, and after two runs scored, Austin Wobrock delivered a strong relay throw home, allowing Garrett Vail to make the tag on Shoulders, the would-be tying run, for the games final out.

Until the eleventh, the game had been tied since the sixth, when a 4-2 Freedom lead dissolved on a Diaz RBI-double and an unearned run on a misplayed groundball by Wobrock. Joliet had scored two runs off Jordan Kraus in the first inning, but Florence got a RBI-single from Daniel Fraga in the third inning, a go-ahead two-run double by Jordan Brower in the fourth and a Brizuela RBI-single in the fifth to add to the lead.

The resulting series win was the fifth straight for the Freedom. Fraga led the team with five hits, while Brizuela paced Florence with three runs batted in.

Keivan Berges (3-1) picked up the win in relief, pitching a scoreless tenth inning. Jamal Wilson held Joliet scoreless in the eighth and ninth, following a shutout seventh inning by Mike Anthony, who was helped out of a jam by a Brizuela diving catch at third base that resulted in Navin being doubled off of second base.

The Freedom next travel to OFallon, Missouri to open a three-game series against the River City Rascals on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at CarShield Field.

The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.

Florence Freedom

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Freedom plate three in 11th inning, hang on to take game, series, from Slammers in Joliet - User-generated content (press release) (registration)