Bandits Blanked in Weekend Pitcher’s Duel

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits were shutout for the second time in 2024, as they fell to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 2-0 on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

After scoring 15 combined runs on 21 combined hits in their previous two contests, the Bandits had no answers for the Rattlers’ pitching staff and totaled just three hits and six total base runners.

Neither team broke into the hit column until the fourth inning, where Wisconsin plated its only run against Quad Cities’ starter Henry Williams, with Gregory Barrios giving the Rattlers a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly to plate Dylan O’Rae’s leadoff triple.

Williams (1-1) would allow just three more base runners over the remainder of the night and completed Quad Cities’ seventh quality start of the season—allowing one run over 6.0 innings and a career-high seven strikeouts in the losing effort.

Wisconsin added their second run just two batters into the seventh, as Cooper McKeehan surrendered back-to-back doubles to Jheremy Vargas and Eduarqui Fernandez, the latter plating the former for a 2-0 lead. McKeehan would record just one out in the frame before Chase Wallace entered and stranded a pair of Wisconsin runners to end the rally.

Wallace then tossed a scoreless eighth before Brandon Johnson put up a zero in the ninth.

Dustin Dickerson was the only River Bandit to reach multiple times in the game, with the shortstop collecting a single and a walk against Rattlers’ starter Alexander Cornielle (3-1), who earned the win and tossed a career-high matching 7.0 shutout innings with a season-high seven strikeouts.

Craig Yoho (5) earned a six-out save, punching out three over the final two innings of the game.

Quad Cities will look to force a split of their six-game set in Sunday’s series finale, as they’ll send Shane Panzini (1-0, 4.34) to the mound against Wisconsin’s Edwin Jimenez (4-0, 5.74). First pitch at Modern Woodmen Park is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.