The Mat-Su Miners were unable to pull out a victory this weekend. On Saturday, they fell to the Anchorage Bucs 7-5 in 10 innings. Christian Seelhorst (Slippery Rock) was able to work around six walks through four innings, without allowing a hit or run as the game remained scoreless. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, designated hitter Kevin Nakamura (Whitman College) drove a three-run homer on a moonshot to deep left which scored right fielder Casey Rother (Lehigh) and left fielder Mike Ferrera (West Chester). Joe Williams (Pomona-Pitzer) came on to pitch in the fifth, and while he allowed a run in the fifth, managed to keep the game scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. Trouble struck in the eighth however, as Aaron Winkler (Rutgers) came on to pitch and gave up three runs (only one of which was earned) as the Miners made two errors in the inning as the Bucs pushed ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the eigth, after the Bucs made two errors of their own, catcher Sam Thompson hit a ground ball past the third base bag that scored two runs to reclaim the lead, 5-4. Evan Wolf came on for the save in the ninth but Matt Erickson hit an RBI single to left field with two outs to tie it and 5-5. After the Miners couldn't score in the bottom of the ninth, the Bucs pushed two across in the tenth, the Miners were unable to answer in the tenth and dropped the contest 7-5.

On Sunday, the Miners traveled to Chugiak to take on the Chinooks. The Miners jumped ahead early with a Kevin Nakamura (2-3, 2 RBI) RBI single. Lance Santerre (Delta College) got the ball on the mound for the Miners and cruised through the first two innings, but was snake bitten by bunt singles and walks and only made it 4+ innings, allowing seven earned runs. James Arend (Corban University) came on with no outs in the fifth and did a good job, going three full innings, striking out three and allowing just one unearned run. First baseman Nick Cirelli (St. Johns) was a big offensive contributor, lining a hard double down the line in the fourth and later on hit a long homer down the line to bring the Miners some offense. In the end, seven runs turned out to not be enough as the Miners defense struggled to hold up while facing the glaring sun, as three balls that would've been routine flyouts dropped in the outfield due to the outfielder's not being able to see the ball, and that proved to be all the difference.

The Miners are back in action on Tuesday at home against the Achorage Bucs. Game time is 7:05, and we'd love to see you at the ballpark. If not, you can always follow our Youtube page (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRMDZ40DFSpnK_O52YO6U5Q) where we stream every game - home and away, live with Reese Lannon and Sean Nief bringing you all the action!