Clinton throttles the Kernels in the series finale

Clinton, IA - The Clinton LumberKings (14-41, 40-84) sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning Sunday afternoon in an 11-7 win over the visiting Cedar Rapids Kernels (30-25, 71-54). Randy LeBlanc (L, 8-5) allowed seven earned runs and failed to record an out in the fifth inning, while Tyler Herb (W, 5-8) allowed three earned runs over five solid innings.

With the wind blowing out to left field all afternoon long, the offense for both teams broke out of a week long slump. Clinton had just nine hits over its previous three games, but tallied 12 hits Sunday afternoon. Adam Martin hit a solo home run off of LeBlanc in the third inning and Gianfranco Wawoe put Clinton ahead 3-2 with a two-run home run off of the Kernels' starter in the fourth.

Austin Diemer and T.J. White each had an RBI hit off of Herb in the third inning, but the righty limited the damage and allowed just five hits overall in his outing. The Clinton offense did more than enough for him, as an eight-run fifth inning catapulted the LumberKings to the win.

LeBlanc and Jared Wilson struggled mightily in the fifth inning. LeBlanc pitched to four batters in the frame, walked one, and gave up three straight hits. With one run home, he left with the bases loaded and no outs for Wilson. The right-handed reliever gave up a two-RBI double to Austin Cousino, a two-RBI single to Wawoe, and five batters later, a three-RBI double to Martin. Martin and Wawoe each finished the day with three hits and four RBIs.

The Kernels made the final score a lot closer than the game felt, as they plated four runs over the final two innings off of Osmer Morales and Ronald Dominguez. In three innings, Morales gave up three runs, one earned, on a trio of hits. In the ninth, Dominguez gave up back-to-back two-out doubles to Nick Gordon and White, but struck out Brett Doe and ended the game.

Six of Clinton's starters had at least one hit, while every starter aside from Burt Reynolds reached base at least once. Clinton had just four four-RBI games on the season prior to Sunday, but Wawoe recorded his second of the year and Martin his first in the win. Wawoe's fourth inning home run was his first non-solo home run of his eight, now second most on the team. Martin recorded his first multi-hit game of the season.

Off of the series win, Clinton will begin a six game road trip Monday night at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport. Jarrett Brown (2-7, 4.37) is set for his second start and sixth appearance of the season vs. the River Bandits, while Dean Deetz (2-1, 1.56) will make just his fourth start of the season for Quad Cities and his first appearance vs. the LumberKings. First pitch is set for 7:00 CT. The LumberKings radio broadcast can be heard on WCCI 100.3 FM, WCCIRadio.com, and LumberKings.com.