By Eli Halverson | July 3, 2025

After taking the first two games of the series in nail-biting fashion, the Joes returned home to Foundation Field looking to finish off a series sweep of the Mariners.

Michael Bilo was on the hill for the Joes Thursday night, and as usual, you knew exactly what you were going to get—a great pitching performance. The Mariners got on the board early with an RBI single in the second, but after that, runs were hard to come by. Bilo went seven innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out five. His ERA now sits at an incredible 0.98 on the season.

The Joes quickly responded in the third. Singles from Mark Rutherford and Cody Miller got the inning started, and Christopher Roa drove in the first run with an RBI single to tie the game. Jaxson Christ then ripped a shot into the right-center gap, scoring two more with a double, and was brought in himself by a Brett Denby single, making it 4-1 Joes through three.

Aggressive baserunning continued to benefit the Joes in the fourth. After a leadoff single, Marc Iozzo swiped second, moved to third on a Rutherford groundout, and scored on a Cody Miller RBI groundout. Aidyn Coffey then sparked a second surge in the inning, getting hit by a pitch and advancing to third on a Roa single. On a pickoff attempt to first, Coffey took off for home and successfully stole it, extending the Hamilton lead to five.

With Bilo cruising, the scoring slowed—until the seventh. The Joes loaded the bases with three walks, and back-to-back wild pitches allowed two more runs to score, stretching the lead to seven and seemingly putting the game out of reach.

However, the Mariners continued to battle, loading the bases with a mix of walks and wild pitches. After a pitching change, they pushed two runs across, but Dylan Kaiser entered and escaped the jam with a pair of crucial strikeouts, limiting the damage.

Kaiser returned in the ninth and closed the door, tossing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to seal the Joes' third straight win, 8-3.

While Bilo was once again the clear player of the game, credit is due to Dylan Kaiser for stepping up late and getting out of a tough spot. Roa also kept his hot streak alive, going 3-for-5 and now hitting over .300 across the past week.

The Joes will look to extend their win streak to four Friday night at Foundation Field against the Southern Ohio Copperheads. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.