The Schaumburg Boomers drew 11 walks but were unable to dig out of a big hole early, dropping the opener of a three-game series in the St. Louis area 9-6 at the hands of the Gateway Grizzlies.
The Boomers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first and placed runners at first and second to open the second but could not score in either situation. Gateway scored five times with two outs in the bottom of the second against Schaumburg starter Isaiah Rivera. The hosts added two more in the third to open a 7-0 lead before Nick Oddo homered in the fourth to put the first run on the board, his second homer of the year.
Gateway added runs in the fourth and fifth to lead 9-1 before Schaumburg took advantage of walks to pull within 9-5. Two Gateway pitchers combined to issue six walks in the top of the sixth. A double steal allowed Luke Becker to score while Oddo and Matt Bottcher lifted sacrifice flies. Braxton Davidson accounted for the final run by coaxing a bases loaded walk as the Boomers sent 10 to the plate. Schaumburg put the tying runs on base in the ninth, scoring a run on an RBI single from Alec Craig to draw within 9-6.
The Boomers left 16 men on base in the game and finished with 11 hits. Rivera suffered the loss. Ryder Yakel tossed four innings in relief. Andrew Cartier threw a perfect eighth, the only 1-2-3 game of the game from either side. Gateway hit three homers in the contest. Milazzo and Chase Dawson both swiped a pair of bases as the Boomers matched a season high total with five, setting the single season record with 90 on the year, surpassing the 2012 mark of 89. Craig reached base four times with two walks, a run and an RBI. Bottcher tallied three hits while Milazzo walked three times and also reached four times.
The Boomers (36-33) continue the series on Saturday night at 6:45 p.m. RHP Ryan Middendorf (7-4, 3.38) makes the start opposite RHP Sam Gardner (4-0, 3.16). The team is back home at Wintrust Field on Tuesday for three contests. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for tickets and information or call 847-461-3695.