Owens, Timber Rattlers, Blank Kernels 5-0

APPLETON, Wis - Braylon Owens struck out eight across five scoreless innings, and the Wisconsin offense scored five runs, all in the fourth inning, in a series-opening 5-0 win over Cedar Rapids Tuesday night.

Dasan Hill got the start for the Kernels and did not allow a run in two innings of work. After a scoreless third inning, Wisconsin opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth. A walk, single and a balk put two runners in scoring position for Daniel Guilarte, who put the Timber Rattlers on the board with an RBI single. The next batter, Juan Baez, followed suit with an RBI base hit to double the Wisconsin lead to 2-0. After a walk loaded the bases, Marco Dingles plated two more with a two-run single, and on the play, an error scored a third Rattler run to grow the advantage to 5-0.

That would be the end of the scoring on the night. Wisconsin stater Braylon Owens allowed just two hits and no runs across five innings of work with eight strikeouts en route to the win. Behind him, the Timber Rattlers bullpen tossed four scoreless frames to complete the shutout.

The backend of the Cedar Rapids bullpen was a bright spot in the defeat. Cole Peschl retired all seven batters he faced in 2.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts. After him, Nick Trabacchi faced six batters to get six outs in two scoreless frames, but it was not enough in the 5-0 defeat.

The loss drops the Kernels to 0-3 in the second half of the season and to 31-36 overall. The six-game series in Wisconsin continues Wednesday at 12:10. Riley Quick gets the start for Cedar Rapids opposite Josh Knoth.