MARION, IL —The Schaumburg Boomers, presented by Wintrust Community Banks, scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning but fell just short in a 7-6 loss to the Southern Illinois Miners in the opener of a weekend road series on Friday night.

Schaumburg held three different leads in the contest, but a three-run fourth from Southern Illinois proved to be the undoing. Clint Hardy put the Boomers ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the first to score Rayden Sierra. After Southern Illinois scored twice in the bottom of the first on a homer from Kyle Davis, Quincy Nieporte nailed a two-run homer in the third, his second of the year to give the Boomers a 3-2 edge. The Miners evened the game in the bottom of the inning before Nick Oddo gave the Boomers the lead for the final time with a homer on the first pitch of the fourth. Jack Parenty logged the first triple of the year in the ninth, scoring two with two outs, but was left at third.

Gunnar Kines was activated from the injured list before the game to start and suffered the loss despite striking out six in 3.2 innings. A third inning strikeout of Davis marked the 254th strikeout of his career, setting the franchise record. Sierra doubled twice in the game while Parenty and Julio Gonzalez both notched two hits.

The Boomers (12-7) continue the series at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night with LHP Connor Reed (1-0, 1.88) on the hill. Schaumburg is back at home on June 2. Visit boomersbaseball.com for tickets or call 847-461-3695.