Snappers pick up third straight win, 5-3 over Burlington

Ryan Mathews' impressive hitting performance powered the Beloit Snappers to their third consecutive victory, a 5-3 win over the Burlington Bees Tuesday night. 

Mathews drove in all five runs for the Snappers, including a grand slam home run in the sixth inning that proved to be the game's decisive moment. 

Hunter Adkins pitched 5 1/3 solid innings in his third start with Beloit (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER). Adkins was 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in two starts with the Snappers entering Tuesday night's contest. 

Beloit snapped an eight-game losing streak to Burlington and improved its second-half record to 5-12 (35-52 overall).

The Snappers struck first in the third inning behind an RBI-single from Mathews. 

Tyler Marincov hit a double down the left field line and extended the hit into a triple when LF Mike Fish failed to field the ball in time. Marincov finished the night 2-for-4, his first multi-hit game since June 8 against Burlington. Mathews proceeded to drill a single up the middle over second base and the Snappers took a 1-0 lead. 

Burlington had a plethora of chances to even the ballgame in the following innings but couldn't convert until the sixth inning. The Bees stranded five runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings and finished the night 3-for-13 with runners-in-scoring-position, leaving nine runners on base. The Snappers were 2-for-4 with RISP and only stranded four runners, in comparison. 

Fish finally provided the equalizing run in the sixth inning with a solo shot home run over the top of the left field wall. The home run snapped a 5-game hitless streak for Fish (0-for-18). 

Mathews broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth frame with his grand slam to right center field, his fifth home run of the season. Mathews entered the game batting .083 in his last five games (1-for-12). 

Vollmuth began the sixth inning with a single to right field before Luis Baez was hit by a pitch and Marincov was walked to load the bases. Mathews responded in the next at-bat with the grand slam home run. 

The Bees cut into Beloit's advantage in the 8th inning behind back-to-back RBI singles from Trevor Gretzky and Ryan Dalton, but couldn't take the lead. Bobby Wahl forced a double play from pinch hitter Eric Aguilera to end the inning and the Snappers took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning.

Despite allowing a runner to reach first base off a Matt Chapman fielding error to begin the ninth inning, the Snappers retired the next three batters to secure the victory. 

Branden Cogswell (2014 7th-round draft pick) recorded his first professional hit (1-for-4) with the Snappers as he joined the ball club Tuesday afternoon. 

Melvin Mercedes snapped a ten-game hitless streak (0-36) with a single to right field in the second inning. 

The Snappers and Bees return to action Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Pohlman Field.