TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Right-hander Brent Lotito worked seven shutout innings to earn the win in his first professional start as the Florence Freedom cruised to a 6-0 win over the host Traverse City Beach Bums in Frontier League professional baseball Monday night at Wuerfel Park in Traverse City, Mich. Florence pitching has posted back-to-back shutouts and has accumulated 18.0 consecutive shutout innings. The record for a Florence team is 19.1 innings, set in 2005.

Florence jumped on Beach Bums starter Jon Haldis in the top of the first inning, scoring three times. Frontier League All-Star Game MVP Angel Molina opened the scoring with an RBI single. Ryan Basham drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and John Welch capped the scoring with an RBI triple.

Two more runs came across for the Freedom in the top of the second. Garth McKinney doubled in a run while Kelly Hunt made it 5-0 with an RBI single off the top of the fence in right. Billy Mottram hit his fifth homer of the season with two outs in the third to chase Haldis from the game.

The Traverse City bullpen was flawless, pitching 6.1 perfect innings in relief of Haldis. Steve Roberts threw the first 5.1 innings and posted five strikeouts. He struck out the side in the seventh and retired all 16 hitters to face him. Nick Pepper tossed a perfect ninth with a strikeout.

Lotito (1-0) allowed just four hits to the Beach Bums, who failed to get a runner into scoring position until Patrick Perry doubled to begin the seventh. Perry finished with two of the hits for the Beach Bums. Right-handers Yosandy Ibanez and Chris Eberhart each worked a scoreless inning to complete the shutout for the Freedom.

The Freedom (28-27) and Beach Bums (31-24) will continue the series tomorrow night with a 7:05 pm EDT start. LHP Weston Curles (1-1, 7.27) will make his third start for the Beach Bums while the Freedom counter with RHP Liam Shanahan (2-4, 6.16).