Craig Pearson
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
The Terre Haute Rex moved into a tie for first place with the Nashville Outlaws after a 3-2 win against Dubois County on a steamy Monday night at Bob Warn Field.
Dominican Republic native Erlin Santos was tough through six scoreless innings, but the right-hander ran into some control problems in the seventh.
Dubois County knotted the score at 2-2 as relief pitcher Cody Wren couldn’t completely escape the bases-loaded jam that Santos handed him. Former West Vigo standout Jordan Pearson helped the Rex take the lead back in the bottom of the seventh, leading off with a single to center and scoring on a wild pitch.
Nick Johnson continued to swing a hot bat for the Rex, going 3 for 3 with a double.
Santos took a no-decision but he battled through 95-degree temperatures for 62⁄3 innings. Cody Wren earned the win by not allowing a hit through 21⁄3 innings.
“I did get a little bit tired. I couldn’t really locate the ball the way I wanted to. It happens,” Santos said through translator Ronnie Mitchell.
Santos has a 2.94 earned-run average in five starts with the Rex. He helped Western Oklahoma State win a Division II Junior College national championship in the spring.
“I pitched well in the spring. I just wanted to carry it over and get more work and get better,” Santos said. “I’ve got one more year at Western Oklahoma State and then hopefully go somewhere else after that.”
For a Rex team that has lost some key pitchers to injury, Santos could help them contend for the second-half title.
As could Mitchell, who scored the game’s first run in the first inning. The speedy outfielder took a pitch below the knees into right field for a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Koby Kraemer.
The victory sends the Rex into the All-Star break with some momentum.
“It’s good confidence for us. It’ll be nice to get three days of rest,” Mitchell said.
The Rex improved to 3-5 against Dubois County, one of only a few teams to have a winning record against the Rex.
The Bombers have Indiana State pitcher Sean Manea on their roster. Manea was added to the West Division All-Star team. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning Sunday.
“They do have some good pitchers. They’ve got Manea, who we we’ve faced twice. He’s obviously pretty good,” Kraemer said. “They’ve got a couple other guys that throw pretty well. For some odd reason, we don’t match up very well with them. It’s good to get a win.”
Rex 3, Bombers 2
Dubois County ab r h bi TH Rex ab r h bi
Campbell dh 5 0 1 0 Hileman cf 4 0 1 0
Skagerlind 1b 3 0 0 1 Meggs dh 3 1 0 0
Poma cf 2 0 0 1 Kraemer 3b 2 0 0 1
Conner c 2 0 0 0 Teschner c 4 0 1 1
Chesler c 1 0 0 0 Johnson rf 3 0 3 0
Thomas rf 4 0 1 0 Loeffler 1b 3 0 0 0
Perez 3b 4 1 1 0 Bruno ss 3 0 0 0
Aceto lf 4 0 0 0 Hannahs ss 1 0 0 0
Stoia 2b 3 1 1 1 Pearson 2b 3 1 1 0
Zawadzki ss 4 0 1 0
Totals 34 2 5 2 Totals 33 9 10 8
Dubois County 000 000 200 — 2
TH Rex 200 000 100 — 3
E —Poma, Lisanti, Kraemer, Loeffler. 2B — Johnson. Stoia. SF — Kraemer. SB — Stoia, Teschner, Johnson. LOB — DC 8, TH 8.
Dubois County IP H R ER BB SO
Lisanti 2 2 2 2 1 0
Billo 4 2 0 0 2 2
Juliot 0 2 1 1 1 0
Kudrecki 2 1 0 0 0 0
TH Rex IP H R ER BB SO
Santos 6 2/3 5 2 2 3 4
Wren 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 2
HBP — by Santos (Chesler). WP — Bilio.
Next — The Rex (5-3 second half) play Friday at the Lorain County Ironmen.
