Aaron Gates came off the bench and never even had to swing his bat as Gates reached on a in the one to lead the Southern Illinois Miners (57-36) to a 12-4 win over the Normal CornBelters (48-44) on Sunday at Rent One Park, Marion, IL.

With the Southern Illinois Miners leading by one in the first inning,.

Eight runs in the opening three innings allowed the Southern Illinois Miners to easily put away the Normal CornBelters. An RBI single by Frank Martinez, a two-run double by Chris Burke, and a groundout by Marquis Riley during the first inning and a two-run double by Ryan Cavan and a two-run home run by Martinez in the second inning helped the Southern Illinois Miners put some runs on the board early.

Martinez racked up four RBIs on two hits for the Southern Illinois Miners.

Michael Carden struck out six hitters en route to the the Southern Illinois Miners win. Carden allowed one earned run, five hits and two walks over seven innings.

Bobby Shore (4-7) took the loss for the Normal CornBelters. He allowed eight runs in 1 1/3 innings, walked two and struck out one.