CRESTWOOD, IL —The pitching staff struck out 18 batters and allowed just three hits, opening the door for the Schaumburg Boomers to come from behind and upend the Windy City ThunderBolts 3-1 on Friday night in a game that was delayed by rain for nearly 90 minutes.

Windy City grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as the second batter of the game, Bren Spillane, connected on a solo homer, his second in as many games. The run was the only one that would score against the pitching staff all night. Luis Perez struck out the next six batters and fanned 11 in six innings of work without issuing a walk.

Unfortunately, the Boomers could not score against the ThunderBolts until the top of the ninth. Chase Dawson led off with a double off the first base bag and scored moments later on an RBI single from Gaige Howard. Bound for extras, John Fiorenza opened on second base as the international tie-breaking runner and scored on an RBI single from Travis Holt, his first professional hit. Dawson lifted a sacrifice fly to add and insurance run and Jake Joyce was able to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning to collect the save.

Kristian Scott earned the win, retiring all six batters faced including three via strikeout. Joyce fanned two in the ninth and Merfy Andrew also struck out two in his Schaumburg debut. The 18 strikeouts marked the second most in franchise history. Dawson and Blake Berry both tallied two hits to lead the offense.

The season opening series comes to an end on Saturday night at 6:05pm. RHP Miguel Reyes will pitch for the Boomers opposite RHP Austin Marozas. Schaumburg opens the year on a six-game roadtrip but returns to Wintrust Field on Friday, May 19 for the home opener. Tickets are available by visiting boomersbaseball.com or calling 847-461-3695.