(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) GRAND CHUTE – The South Bend Cubs continued their onslaught against Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching with a 24-4 victory at Neuroscience Group Field on Saturday afternoon. Kane Kepley went 4-for-7 with five RBI to lead South Bend’s 24-hit attack.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester made the start for the Timber Rattlers on a rehab assignment. He pitched around an infield single and a walk to work a scoreless first inning. The second inning was difficult for Priester and the Rattlers.
South Bend (20-15) sent twelve players to the plate and scored seven runs in the second. Seven of the first eight Cubs to bat in the inning reached base with four singles, two walks, and a hit batsman. There were two bases-loaded walks and RBI singles by Kane Kepley and Cameron Sisneros.
Bjorn Johnson relieved Priester with the bases loaded and one out. All three runners scored with RBI singles by Kade Snell and Leonel Espinoza and a wild pitch by Johnson for a 7-0 lead.
The Cubs added a run in the third inning on and RBI single by Ty Southisene against Jason Woodward.
Wisconsin (20-16) got their first run on a two-out, solo home run by Braylon Payne. The homer was his eighth of the season for Payne.
South Bend’s bats went back to work in the top of the fourth and scored four more runs on a two-run single by Southisene sandwiched between a pair of bases-loaded walks. In the fifth, Miguel Useche had an RBI double for an 11-1 lead.
Andrew Fischer crushed a home run to right to start the bottom of the sixth inning to take over the Midwest League lead in homers. Wisconsin’s third baseman is the first hitter in the league to reach ten homers this season.
The Cubs pulled away with seven more runs in the seventh, a run in the eighth, and three runs in the ninth. South Bend had twenty singles and four doubles on Saturday. The also took advantage of seventeen free base runners on three hit batsmen and fourteen walks. The final five runs scored by South Bend in the game were scored off position players. Luiyin Alastre, making his second appearance of the series, allowed a run on a hit in 2/3 of an inning. Andrick Nava went from catching the first seven innings to pitching the last two. He allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings.
Kepley, the South Bend lead-off batter, had eight plate appearances in the game. He was 4-for-7 with three runs and five RBI. Southisene and Useche both had four hits. Useche scored five runs.
The Rattlers scored twice in the bottom of the ninth with RBI singles by Blayberg Diaz and Daniel Dickinson.
Caleb Thielbar, a Timber Rattlers reliever in 2010, pitched the bottom of the seventh for South Bend on an MLB rehab assignment from the Chicago Cubs. Thielbar allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out two over his scoreless inning of work.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. Wande Torres (2-2, 6.28) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Nazier Mulé (0-1, 3.24) has been announced as the starting pitcher for the Cubs. Game time is 1:10pm.
Jesús Made is the new number one prospect in baseball! A great way to celebrate is to make sure you are one of the first 1,000 fans into the stadium to receive the Jesús Made bobblehead courtesy of Engage Orthodontics.
Catch on the Field presented by TruGreen lets fans on the outfield from noon to 12:30 pm on Sunday. During the game, Timber Rattlers players and coaches will wear their 2026 Brewers Sunday jerseys. After the game, players will be available for autographs presented by Fox Cities Cards.
Friday’s game
The South Bend Cubs have made a habit of scoring in the first inning during their series with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Cubs plated four runs in the first inning on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field and cruised to a 9-0 victory over the Rattlers.
South Bend (19-15) had one run in the first on Tuesday and opened Wednesday’s game with three runs. Wisconsin (20-15) held the Cubs off the board in the first inning on Thursday, but there was no stopping the Cubs on Friday night.
Kane Kepley and Ty Southisene had back-to-back singles to start the inning to give the Cubs runners at the corners with no outs. A walk to Cameron Sisneros loaded the bases. Kade Snell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Leonel Espinoza followed with a three-run home run for the 4-0 lead.
Wisconsin starting pitcher Travis Smith settled in after the first inning to allow one more hit and no runs over his five innings.
The Rattlers offense struggled against South Bend starting pitcher Cole Reynolds. The lefty didn’t allow a hit until a Josiah Ragsdale single with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Reynolds would get out of the inning without allowing a run. He pitched five innings, walked two, hit one, and struck out five as he turned the 4-0 lead over to his bullpen.
Wisconsin put two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Josh Adamczewski and Marco Dinges against Ethan Bell, who got the final out with a strikeout.
The Cubs duo of Kepley and Southisene started a rally in the top of the seventh against Rattler reliever Chandler Welch. Kepley doubled and Southisene was hit by a pitch to set the table. Sisneros cleared the table with a long home run to right-center and a 7-0 lead.
Later in the frame, Justin Stransky drove in a run with a triple.
Kepley, who is 10-for-18 with eleven runs scored in the series, added one more run on Friday with a two-out bloop single to drive in Alex Madera in the top of the ninth.
Adam Stone worked the final three innings of the game to earn his first save and hand the Rattlers their second shutout of the season.
Josiah Ragsdale had two of Wisconsin’s four hits on Friday night.
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