(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) SOUTH BEND, IN – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers managed to erase an early stumble to tie Tuesday’s game against the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field. Then, a constant thorn in Wisconsin’s side turned the tide back in favor of the Cubs, who shut down Wisconsin the rest of the way for a 5-2 victory.
South Bend (52-35 overall, 13-12 second half) rallied immediately against Wisconsin starting pitcher Ethan Dorchies in the bottom of the first. Three straight walks opened the inning to put Christian Olivo, Kane Kepley, and Josiah Hartshorn on base with no outs. Jose Escobar grounded into a force play to score Olivo.
The Cubs added a second run in the inning on a double steal. Hartshorn stole second and Kepley stole home after the throw went through to second base.
Wisconsin (48-38, 14-10) rallied to tie the game in the top of the third. Luis Castillo launched his twelfth home run of the season to start the inning. Braylon Payne kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single and took second on a throwing error. Luis Peña extended the inning by drawing a walk. Then, Eric Bitonti drove in Payne with a single to tie the game.
Kepley got the Cubs back in front in the bottom of the third. He singled, stole second, and went to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield by Hartshorn. Escobar drove in Kepley with a sacrifice fly to left for a 3-2 lead.
The Cubs and Kepley added to their lead in the fifth. Michael Carico started the frame with a double. Kepley followed with an RBI double. Hartshorn moved Kepley to third with another grounder to the right side of the infield. Escobar picked up his third RBI of the night on an infield grounder to drive in Kepley again, and the Cubs were up 5-2.
South Bend’s bullpen did the rest of the work. Nate Williams and JP Wheat each worked a scoreless inning.
The Rattlers best chance to get back into the game came in the top of the sixth inning when Tayden Hall drew a two-out walk and Tyler Rodriguez singled against Wheat to bring Castillo to the plate as the tying run. Castillo hit a line drive to left that hung up for Kade Snell to catch and that ended the threat.
Jackson Brockett tossed the final three innings to close out the game for the Cubs. The only runner Brockett allowed was a lead-off error to start the ninth. That runner was quickly erased on a double play with the final out of the game recorded moments later.
Kepley was 2-for-3 with an RBI, two stolen bases, and three runs scored on Tuesday night. His numbers in six games against Wisconsin this season are insane. Kepley is 16-for-28 (.571) with seventeen runs scored and twelve RBI against the Rattlers. He is also 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts versus Wisconsin this season.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Timber Rattlers, the first time they have lost four in a row this season.
Castillo’s home run was the 114th of the season for the Rattlers. The franchise record for home runs in a season is 117 with the standard set by the 2021 team.
Game two of the series at Four Winds Field is set for Wednesday with an 11:05am CDT first pitch. Wisconsin has named Wande Torres (6-5, 4.85) as their starting pitcher. The Cubs have not officially announced their starter for Wednesday.
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