GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers grabbed an early lead with a run in the first inning against the Beloit Sky Carp Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. However, Johnny Olmstead hit a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the third to give the Sky Carp a lead they never lost on the way to a 5-1 victory over Wisconsin.
Eduardo Garcia put the Timber Rattlers (50-30 overall, 8-6 second half) up 1-0 with an RBI single to score Luis Lara from second base with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Wisconsin has scored 66 runs in the first inning this season.
Beloit (36-41, 6-8) was quiet in the first two innings against Wisconsin starting pitcher Will Rudy, who retired all six hitters, including four via strikeout.
In the top of the third, Jake DeLeo doubled to lead off the frame. Rudy hit Osiris Johnson with one out before getting the second out on a popup. Then, Olmstead pounced on a 1-0 pitch from Rudy and hit a three-run home run for a 3-1 lead.
Wisconsin loaded the bases in the bottom of the third. Jadher Areinamo doubled with one out to move his hitting streak to eighteen games. Beloit starting pitcher Thomas White hit Garcia. Then, he walked Matt Wood with two outs to load the bases. White escaped the inning with a strikeout. White retired the Rattlers in order in the fourth and fifth inning before turning the game over to his bullpen.
The Sky Carp Bullpen only allowed a hit and a walk over the final four innings and the Rattlers never had another runner get past first base in the game.
White walked two, struck out three, and picked up his first Midwest League win with his performance.
Rudy walked the lead-off batter in the top of the seventh inning before retiring the next batter and leaving the game. He set a new professional single-game high with 6-1/3 innings pitched. He allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out six.
The runner Rudy left on base when he left the game would come in to score later in the seventh inning on a two-run single by Cameron Barstad. That put the Sky Carp up 5-1.
Areinamo’s eighteen-game hitting streak is the longest in the Midwest League this season. It is also the longest by a Timber Rattlers hitter since David Fry had an eighteen-game hitting streak in 2019. Areinamo was 1-for-4 on Friday night. He is 29-for-69 .
The final game of the series is Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Milwaukee Brewer Joe Ross is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin as he is set to make a rehabilitation start. The Sky Carp have named Ike Buxton (2-6, 5.01) as their starter. Game time is 6:40pm CDT.
Saturday night is the Rattlers annual Margaritaville Night. A special ticket package is available at this link. The package includes a new Timber Rattlers-themed Hawaiian shirt, a seat in the Diamond Seats, access to a dinner menu of Teriyaki Chicken with pineapple and mango salsa, Jerk BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with coleslaw, Caribbean blend vegetables, Tropical fruit display, Rum Cake with lemon glaze, and Macadamia Nut Cookies, and two drinks (soda, water, domestic beer, whiffer-ita, or margarita).
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