Snappers Win Series Finale against Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids, IA - The Beloit Snappers busted out the bats on Saturday afternoon totaling 11 hits to defeat the Cedar Rapids Kernels by a final score of 5-4. Snappers pitching was strong today too with Chase Cohen earning win number three, Bryce Nightengale with the hold, and Eric Mariñez picking up his second save on the year.

Chase Cohen would get his fourth start of the season and was fantastic on his way to his third straight victory. Cohen would only have one blemish on his day giving up a 2-run homer in the first inning, but other than that one pitch, Cohen was masterful only surrendering 3 hits in 5.2 IP and striking out 4 Kernels.
In the third, the Snappers would get on the scoreboard plating 2 runs and evening the game at 2 apiece. Marcos Brito would get the offense going with a one-out single and Cobie Vance would follow Brito with a double to left field putting runners on first and second with only one out in the inning.
Just one batter later, Ryan Gridley would continue his hot hitting ways by driving in Brito with an RBI SAC Fly and advancing Vance to third. Down by one still with two outs, Payton Squier would smoke a double to right field to score Vance and tie the game at two after three innings.
The Snappers would not stop there, as Beloit tacked on a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to take their first lead of the series 5-2. In the sixth, John Jones would lead off with a walk and was later knocked in by a 2-out double from newcomer, Noah Vaughan, to give Beloit the lead.
Then in the seventh, the Snappers would strike up some of that 2-out magic to give themselves a little cushion. Gridley would single up the middle with 2-outs, extending his on-base streak to 7 games, and then would swipe second base. One batter later, Squier would keep his strong day going, singling to right field and driving in Gridley to extend the lead to two.
But Beloit was not done yet in the seventh with two outs. Already with a walk and a run on the afternoon, John Jones would then single to right field driving in Squier to give the Snappers the 5-2 lead heading to stretch time.
Cedar Rapids would not go down quietly though, scoring 2 runs of their own in the seventh. However, the Snappers would hold the Kernels at 4 runs, thanks in large part to some strong pitching out of the bullpen to preserve Cohen's quality start.
Bryce Nightengale would be first out of the bullpen and worked his way out of a bases loaded jam with two outs in the sixth inning. Then, Eric Mariñez would work a perfect two innings to earn the six out save and get the Snappers a win in the series finale against the Kernels.
Beloit will have the day off on Easter Sunday before heading to back to Iowa to take on the Clinton LumberKings in a 3-game set. After that brief trip to Clinton, the Snappers will return to Pohlman Field and welcome in the Peoria Chiefs for the first time this season.
The Beloit Snappers are a member of the Midwest League and have been the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics since 2013. For more ticket information, contact the Snappers office at (608) 362-2272 or visit our website, www.snappersbaseball.com