Lake Erie opened the scoring in the second on a two-run homer from Steve Passatempo. Luke Becker led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on a groundout from Alec Craig to cut into the margin. The Crushers plated four runs in the fifth to lead 6-1, utilizing a two-run homer from Trevor Achenbach. Craig doubled home a run in the bottom of the inning before scoring on a wild pitch and Chase Dawson drilled an inside-the-park homer to bring Schaumburg within 6-4, but Lake Erie tallied four more runs in the seventh to pull away as Passatempo connected on another two-run homer. Becker tripled and scored in the eighth to account for the final.
Andrew Dean worked five innings and suffered the loss. Ryder Yakel, Jake Joyce and Thomas Nicoll also appeared in the contest. Quincy Nieporte notched three hits as the Boomers totaled 12. Becker, Dawson, Craig and Nick Oddo each tallied a pair of hits.
Despite the loss, the Boomers (43-40) remain atop the Central Division with the largest division lead in the league and saw their magic number drop even though Lake Erie vaulted Windy City into second place in the standings. The team will take Monday off on the final off-day of the year before visiting Gateway for three games on Tuesday. RHP Geoff Bramblett (2-0, 1.40) will make his second start against his former team. The Boomers have four home games remaining on Labor Day weekend. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for tickets and information or call 847-461-3695.