Miners Drop Season Opener to Railroaders in Fulton

The Madisonville Miners opened up the 2015 OVL season on the road in Fulton on Friday night and fell to the Railroaders, 16-6.  Click HERE for a link to the box score.

(Summary courtesy of Fulton Railroaders) The Fulton Railroaders (1-0) opened their season at home with a victory over the Madisonville Miners (0-1). The Railroaders put up their 16 runs off of 12 hits, 10 walks, 4 hit batters and 4 Miner errors. Fulton scored 9 runs in the first inning sending 13 men to the plate causing Madisonville to use two pitchers to get out of the inning.

Madisonville led early scoring 2 runs in the top of first inning before the Railroaders answered to out pace the Miners. The Railroaders added a single score in the third before the Miners gained some momentum in the forth inning putting up 3 runs to cut Fulton’s lead in half. The Railroaders added another 2 runs in the sixth and topped off with 4 more in the eighth. The Miners managed their final run in the seventh inning.

Brooks Benson was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a double; Wesley Birchmeier went 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in; and Nolan Ramsey was 2-for-4 and 2 scores.

The win for Fulton goes to Kyle Ward (1-0) pitching for 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter Charlie Hecht who went only 3 1/3 innings. Ward gave up 2 hits and one earned run, striking out 2 and giving a walk. Kyle Estand finished the final 2 innings for the Railroaders. The three pitchers combined to allow 11 hits, 6 runs (one earned), 7 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Taking the loss for Madisonville was J.A. Harville (0-1) who struggled in the first inning 4 walking batters and hitting another.  Harville allowed only one hit but was tagged for 6 runs scored (3 earned) and was unable to get an out.  Colin Hudson pitched in relief for 2 3/3 innings, followed by Jesse Ellefson and Yancey Pritchet for 2 1/3 innings each, with Austin Lukaschewski finishing the final 2/3 innings.

Both teams combined for 10 errors, with Fulton having 6 and Madisonville 4. Each team turned one double play. The most notable defensive plays came from Miners’ right fielder Nolan Ramsey who made a driving catch of a line drive, a wall jumping catch, and a throw to third base to gun down a runner.

The Miners (0-1) host the Dubois County Bombers (0-1) in the home opener at Elmer Kelley Stadium on Sunday night.  The game gets underway at 7:00 pm Central.

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