Snappers walkoff Rattlers on Saturday night

BELOIT, WI - Justin Higley had a big night for the Beloit Snappers as they rallied to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-5 in eleven innings Saturday night at Pohlman Field. Higley drove in three runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the eleventh, as the Snappers rallied from a 5-1 deficit.

The Timber Rattlers bats went to work right away. Brandon Diaz and Tucker Neuhaus drew walks to start the game against Beloit starter Junior Mendez. The Snappers righty got the first out of the inning, but gave up an RBI single to Carlos Leal and an RBI double to Elvis Rubio. Wisconsin (29-58 overall, 6-11 second half) was up 2-0.

Wisconsin doubled their lead in the top of the second. Greg McCall was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Diaz doubled to left to knock in McCall. Neuhaus followed with another RBI double and the Rattlers were up 4-0.

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Wily Peralta made the start for the Timber Rattlers as part of his rehabilitation assignment. He retired the side in order in both the first and second inning. Beloit got a pair of hits to start the third and Peralta came back to strikeout the next two batters before leaving on his pitch limit.

Zach Cooper took over for Peralta and gave up an RBI single to Trent Gilbert before getting the final out.

Wisconsin pushed their lead to 5-1 in the top of the sixth. McCall singled with one out and moved to second on a balk. Greg Munoz singled to left-center and McCall scored.

Beloit (33-54, 7-10) rallied to tie the game in the sixth against Zach Hirsch. A hit batsman, a single, and a one-out walk loaded the bases for the Snappers. Iolana Akau hit a hard grounder off Hirsch that deflected to Neuhaus and the Rattlers turned that into an out at first, but a run scored and the other runners on base moved into scoring position.

Higley's first big hit of the night came after the Akau grounder. The count was worked to 3-2 before Higley lined a single to center that scored both runs and the Rattlers lead fell to one run.

Higley wasn't done in the inning. He stole second with James Harris at the plate and took third on a passed ball. Harris hit a grounder near second and Munoz ranged over from short to field the ball. The pick was clean, but the throw to first was wild and Higley scored the tying run on the error.

Wisconsin's best chances to score came in the eighth and the eleventh. In the eighth, Munoz and Diaz drew walks with two outs, but Carlos Navas came out of the bullpen to get the final out. In the eleventh, Dustin DeMuth lined a pitch off the batter's eye in deep center field with two outs for a double. But, Navas got the final out there to set the stage for the bottom of the eleventh.

Luke Curtis, Wisconsin's fourth pitcher of the game, took over for Gian Rizzo, who tossed three scoreless innings. Curtis got ahead of Max Kuhn with two quick strikes. Kuhn would work the count full by fouling off eleven different two-strike pitches before walking on the seventeenth pitch of the plate appearance. Curtis got the first out of the inning on a strikeout, but Higley ended the game by lining a double on a 3-2 pitch to the gap in right-center. Kuhn raced around the bases and beat the relay throw easily to score the game-winning run.

Watching the Snappers celebrate at Pohlman Field has become a familiar sight for Wisconsin. Saturday night was the fourth time Beloit has beaten the Timber Rattlers in walkoff fashion in 2015.

Wisconsin also fell to 1-6 in extra innings this season.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Pohlman Field. Devin Williams (2-5, 3.27) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Snappers will have Brett Graves (7-3, 4.65) as their starter. Game time is 2:00pm.

Catch the radio broadcast of the game on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio.

WP: Carlos Navas (3-1)
LP: Luke Curtis (6-2)

TIME: 3:50
ATTN: 1,493