The moment belonged to Joey Metropoulos and he owned it well. After hitting a walkoff home run into the splash zone behind Rent One Park's left-field fence Tuesday night to lift the Southern Illinois Miners to a series-clinching 3-2 victory over Rockford, the San Diego native burst with emotion as another home plate celebration began.

Metropoulos isn't exactly known for having an explosive personality. The Miners' 6-foot-2, 265-pound veteran right fielder has a distinct style and has been a fan favorite since joining the Frontier League team last season, but usually lets his performance speak for him.

But when Rockford pitcher Roy Bringelson served up an 0-1 fastball with the game tied and one out in the bottom of the ninth, he did so in the exact location Metropoulos was hoping to see. After connecting with a hearty swing, the slugger dropped his bat, pointed to the sky and let out a loud scream before slapping hands with coaches Ralph Santana and Bart Zeller, then flipped his helmet to the turf before leaping on home plate with a throng of teammates waiting for him.

"It was a pretty emotional time," Metropoulos said. "Hitting a walkoff home run doesn't happen a lot. When it does, you feel like you've got to celebrate it. It felt good."

With just the sound of the ball hitting Metropoulos's bat, the remaining crowd of 4,544 fans knew instantly that the Miners had their second walkoff win in three days.

"Boy, did he hit it," Miners manager Mike Pinto said. "Did that ball ever come down?"

Rockford manager Bob Koopmann pulled out all the stops to win the series by putting his ace, Garrett Bauer, on the mound with just three days rest. The lefthander did his part by holding the Miners scoreless until the sixth, when he walked Tim Dorn and grooved a 2-0 fastball to Brandon Jones that was blasted into the night sky for a two-run, game-tying home run.

Rockford took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Miners righthander Ryan Bird, the Frontier League's strikeout leader, when the league's top hitter, Joe Anthonsen, singled and later scored on a base hit by all-star teammate Jason James, who drove in all five of Rockford's runs in the first two games of the series.

Bird struck out seven batters to increase his franchise-best season total to 101, but took a no-decision after giving up an unearned run in the sixth inning and turning the rest of the game over to the Miners' bullpen.

Bird scattered seven hits while battling near triple-digit temperatures and a bout of sickness during a gutty performance. His illness will even keep him from traveling with the Miners to their next series, a five-hour trip to Florence, Ky., he said.

"That's the most I've ever sweated in a game in my entire life," Bird said. "I had decent stuff but their hitters are scrappy. They don't strike out much."

After striking out Tony Gonzalez to start the sixth inning — and becoming the first Miner to reach the century mark in that category — Bird induced Robbie Knapp into a grounder that was misplayed by Jones at third base. Brad Dutton, who had four of Rockford's nine hits, followed with a single to right field that was compounded by a throwing error from Metropoulos in right field, moving Knapp to third. A fly ball to center field by Mike Scripture plated Knapp to put Rockford up 2-0.

Jones atoned for his fielding mistake in the bottom half. After Metropoulos popped up and Dorn worked a walk from Bauer, Jones whacked a high fly ball that James leapt for at the fence but couldn't reach, knotting the game and taking Bird off the hook.

"Errors are going to happen, but it makes you feel bad when someone like Bird is out there giving it 110 percent," Jones said. "Bart Zeller came to me when I got in the dugout and said, 'You still have to hit the ball. Get yourself a good pitch, take a swing and see what happens.' And it turned all right."

Bauer was removed during the seventh inning after throwing 129 pitches for the RiverHawks, whose season record dipped to 31-32, six games behind the first-place Miners (37-26).

"They needed to get this game and this was a huge win for us because it's a two-game spread," Pinto said. "One game has such a profound effect."

Jake McMurran pitched three scoreless inning of relief and was rewarded with a victory, evening his season mark to 2-2. He gave up just two hits and struck out three during that span.

With each win, the Miners keep improving the best winning percentage so far in their brief history. They've won 11 of their last 13 games, with the first win coming just before the all-star break, and are now 18-6 in the month of July with two games left.

Southern Illinois has won 14 of its 21 three-game series this season, including five straight, and has a 4-1/2 game lead over Windy City atop the Frontier League's West Division standings. Gateway defeated the ThunderBolts on Tuesday in the same fashion — Michael Campbell hit a solo homer in the ninth inning to give the Grizzlies a 7-6 walkoff victory.

The Miners' latest conquest wasn't quite perfect as the team left 12 runners on base — "a village," by Pinto's estimation — after stranding the bases loaded in the third and eighth innings.

But in another complete team effort, the club had seven different players get a hit — including newcomer Juan Guzman, who doubled and provided solid play at second base in his second game with the Miners — with Jones the only multiple hitter at 2-for-4 with his clutch two RBIs.

"Everyone's doing it," Bird said. "Whatever it is, we're doing it. That's just the way this team is. We find a way to do it."

Rockford made the long trek home after Tuesday's game to prepare for a home series against Washington, while the Miners spent the night in the area with the bus scheduled to leave Rent One Park for Florence early Wednesday morning.

The ending to the most recent series will likely last with the Miners for a while, even though walkoff celebrations are proving to be less scarce than originally thought. The latest will be seared into memory, however, due to the uncommon exuberance displayed by its provider.

"It happened one other time this season," Jones said. "I love to see emotion from Joey. I like to know that he has a pulse."

COAL BITS: The Miners made another roster move Tuesday when it put lefthanded reliever Josh Neal on the retired list to allow him to return to Stillwater, Okla., to complete his degree at Oklahoma State University. He will be eligible to return to Southern Illinois next season. The Miners filled his roster spot by signing former Chicago Cubs prospect Michael Phelps, a 24-year-old righthander reliever who has spent most of this season with the Advanced Class A Daytona Cubs, where he compiled a 2-1 record and 5.56 ERA in 28 appearances.