By RJ Larson

Situational hitting is what manager Gary McClure wanted from the Bees in their matchup against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp, and that is exactly what he got. Burlington came up with three clutch hits with runners on to defeat Illinois Valley 7-5.

The Pistol Shrimp got on Bees ace McLain Harris to start off the game. An RBI double from Blake Atkins, and an RBI single from Sam Link quickly put Illinois Valley 2-0 in the first. Kevin Santiago got Burlington on the board in the second with a solo home run.  His seventh of the season, making it 2-1.

Harris was looking good in the third, until he surrendered a two-out walk and a single. Danny Wuestenfeld hit a sharp grounder to Santiago at third.  His throw to first went by Austin Simpson allowing two runs to score, making it 4-1. Burlington responded by drawing three straight walks in the bottom of the third before Chase Honeycutt came up big with a two run single to get Burlington back within a run trailing 4-3.

The Bees offense stayed quiet over the next few innings, but a leadoff single from Austin Simpson in the sixth and a double from Marcos Sanchez got the fans excited. Illinois Valley got a big out with a K, but Zane Zielinski would come up with his biggest hit of the season.  Zielinski hit a three run homer, his second of the season, to give the Bees their first lead of the game.

Illinois Valley got back within a run in the eighth on a two-out RBI single from Benji Ries, but Burlington answered again. Ben Nippolt dropped a two-out single to shallow left to score AJ Henkle and give the Bees a big insurance run. Reece Wissinger pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his third save of the season and snap the Bees three game losing streak.

Jack Gray earned his second win with a great outing in relief. Gray went 2.2 innings, allowed a run, hit, walk, and struck out a batter. The Bees hit the road again for a matchup vs the Clinton LumberKings tomorrow night.