SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The West Division Champion Schaumburg Boomers scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to steal a 6-5 win over the Lake Erie Crushers in the opening game of the Frontier League Championship Series on Saturday, grabbing a 1-0 series lead.

Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the inning and without a hit against reliever Matt Smith, who entered in the third, Alexi Colon drew a leadoff walk and Jordan Dean followed with a single to chase Smith from the contest. Brad Duffy’s wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed the tying run to cross and Brian McConkey notched a single into shallow right to put the Boomers in front. McConkey drove home the winning run in Tuesday’s clincher.

Lake Erie raced to an early 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer from Daniel Bowman, who finished with three hits. The Boomers responded in the bottom of the frame with a three-run blast from Steve McQuail, his third and the team’s eighth of the playoffs.

The Crushers battled back to tie the game against starter Chris Phelan in the top of the third, utilizing an RBI triple from former Boomer Craig Hertler and an RBI double from Seth Granger. Dean tripled and scored in the bottom of the inning to chase Lake Erie starterJason Wilson, who had an ERA under 2.00 in two starts against the Boomers as a member of the Florence Freedom. Two unearned runs put Lake Erie ahead in the sixth.

Mike Giovenco threw a scoreless inning to earn his second win of the playoffs. Dexter Price picked up the save, his first, leaving the tying run at third in the ninth. Dean finished with three hits and three runs scored for the Boomers.

The Boomers (59-37, 4-0) will play game two of the Frontier League Championship Series at Boomers Stadium on Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. RHP Shawn Sanford (10-6, 2.97/0-0, 3.38) starts for the Boomers against RHP Alex Kamisky (7-5, 3.28/0-1, 5.40). Playoff tickets are on sale now. The Boomers run through the playoffs is powered by AEP Energy. Reserve your piece of the action by calling 847.461.3695 or visiting www.boomersbaseball.com.