SAUGET, Ill. – The Florence Freedom scored nine runs in the sixth inning Monday night to break open a close ballgame and went on to post a 15-3 win over the Gateway Grizzlies at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.

The Freedom matched a season-high with their fourth straight victory and improved to 33-30, the first time this season they’ve been as many as three games above the .500 mark.

Florence’s 21 hits accumulated against three Gateway pitchers was one off the club record of 22 hits in a game, set on July 8th of this season at Champion Window Field in Florence against Southern Illinois.

Rookie left-hander Craig Trent (2-0) beat Gateway for the second straight time and established a new Florence club record with 12 strikeouts in a single game. Former Freedom right-hander Joel Posey held the previous record of 11 punch-outs, which he accomplished three different times. Trent went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits.

Freedom rookie catcher Nick Salotti tied a franchise and Frontier League record by going 6-for-6 with a solo home run and five singles. The Palm Desert, Calif., native has now reached base in ten consecutive trips to the plate after he walked three times and was hit by a pitch in his final four plate appearances in Sunday’s 8-5 win over visiting River City.

Rookie right fielder Mike Wadowski capped the nine-run uprising in the sixth inning when he blasted his first career home run, a grand slam over the wall in right centerfield off reliever David Wasylak. Wadowski finished the night with a career-high five RBIs, one more than his season total coming into the game. Every Florence starter hit safely in the game with the exception of left fielder Ryan Basham, who walked in his only plate appearance before leaving the game in the second inning with an apparent abdominal injury. His replacement, Jesse Acosta, collected two hits with two runs scored and an RBI against his former Gateway teammates. Acosta was acquired by the Freedom a week ago in a trade with the Grizzlies.

Florence gained a game on first-place Washington in the East Division. The Wild Things dropped a 9-2 decision to Rockford in the opener of a three-game series. The second-place Freedom are now just 4 ½ games back heading into the middle game of a three-game series at Gateway tomorrow night at 8:05 p.m. EDT.