Story by Howard Regal

The Lake Erie Crushers (43-35) were defeated by the Florence Freedom (42-36) early Sunday evening in the finale of their three game series at All Pro Freight Stadium in front of 2,934 fans.

The Crushers are now 5-5 in their last 10 games after dropping two of three to the Freedom. They remained seven games behind front-running Traverse City and fell to three games behind second place Southern Illinois. The Miners bolstered their Frontier League playoff chances with a 4-2 win over Gateway Sunday.

Paul Fagan (7-6, 3.26 ERA) took the loss for the Crushers, while Andy Clark (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was credited with the victory for the Freedom. For Clark, it was his first start of the season after being activated off the suspended list prior to the ballgame.

Florence’s only run of the game came in the seventh inning following an RBI single by Pierre LePage that scored Kyle Bluestein. The Crushers were held to only four hits, with Jason Taylor, Andrew Davis, Daniel Bowman, and Wally Correa each contributing one hit a piece.

The Crushers were held silent by Clark, who pitched seven innings of shutout baseball. He struck out three in his seven innings and allowed only two hits. Florence’s Jorge Marban picked up his sixth save of the season after pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth inning.

The Crushers will have the day off Monday before they open up a three game series with the Normal Cornbelters Tuesday at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.

For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.