PEORIA, ILLINOIS (April 23, 2019) — Austin Hansen and RJ Freure combined on the second shutout of the season, allowing just one hit in the process, as the Quad Cities River Bandits evened their three-game series against the Peoria Chiefs with an 8-0 win on Tuesday afternoon. The River Bandits offense also collected a season-high 13 hits in the contest.
The Bandits took their first lead of the series in the top of the second inning. Scott Schreiber started the attack when he was hit by an Alvaro Seijas pitch. He stole second base and was joined on the basepaths moments later when Jonathan Lacroix walked. David Hensley took advantage by lining a base-hit into left-field. Peoria left-fielder Leandro Cedeno misplayed the ball and allowed it to roll under his glove with Schreiber scoring from second on the play.
Quad Cities (9-8) received their first back-to-back home-runs of the season in the fourth inning to further extend their advantage. With one out, Lacroix and Hensley each blasted their first home-runs of the season in consecutive at-bats to push the lead to 3-0. The back-to-back home-runs were the first for the River Bandits since May 4 of 2018, when Jonathan Arauz and Michael Papierski combined for the feat.
In the top of the sixth, Trey Dawson followed a Ross Adolph double with one of his own to extend the margin to 4-0. That remained the score until the ninth inning when RBI singles from Jeremy Pena and Scott Schreiber, a sacrifice-fly from Lacroix and another run-scoring base-hit from Hensley doubled the lead to 8-0.
Hansen earned the win by working the first 5.0 innings of the game without allowing a hit. He struck out five and walked three. RJ Freure picked up a save by tossing the final 4.0 innings and striking out five. Leandro Cedeno’s lead-off single in the seventh inning against Freure represented the only hit of the game for the Chiefs (6-12).
On the other side, the River Bandits were led by Hensley who turned in a 4-5 performance at the plate with a home-run and two RBI. He is the first Bandits player to finish with four hits in a game this season. Dawson was the only other player with multiple-hits in the game. The shortstop was 2-4 with two doubles. The River Bandits set a new season-high with six extra-base hits in the game.
The River Bandits close the series with the rubber match against the Chiefs on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez (1-1, 2.40) will start for the River Bandits in the finale against Peoria RHP Cole Aker (0-1, 11.42).
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 8-13-0
Peoria (R-H-E): 0-1-1
Win: Hansen (2-1)
Loss: Seijas (1-2)
Save: Freure (1)
HR: Quad Cities: Jonathan Lacroix (1, 4th inning, 0 on base), David Hensley (1, 4th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Peoria:
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home-games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
