Brian Erie, Andrew Davis Lift Lake Erie Crushers Over Florence

The Lake Erie Crushers opened their road trip with a win Tuesday night, beating the Florence Freedom, 4-3, in Florence, Ky.

Brian Erie hit an RBI single in the fifth to put the Crushers up, 3-2, the team reported. Then Andrew Davis hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to give the Crushers a 4-2 lead.

The Freedom cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI triple by Drew Rundle.

Ruben Flores came in in the eighth to stop another Florence rally with runners at the corners and one out. He struck out one batter and got the next to fly out to end the inning. The Freedom had the tying run at third in the bottom of ninth, but Flores shut down that threat, too, to get his 14th save on the season.

Erie finished with three hits and two RBI for the Crushers. Davis had two hits and an RBI. Randy Sturgill (5-1, 2.87 earned run average) got the win.

The Crushers play at Florence again Wednesday. Thomas Campbell (1-0, 1.56) will start for the Crushers. Game time is 7:05 p.m.