Bandits and Loons tie in suspended series finale

Quad Cities River Bandits All-Star catcher Jacob Nottingham hit his ninth home run of the season, and right-hander Akeem Bostick struck out seven batters, including the final five he faced, but rain and inclement weather suspended the rubber match with the Great Lakes Loons in a 3-3 tie through six innings at Modern Woodmen Park Monday afternoon.

Although the game will not be resumed, the game was an official one, which means all statistics will be recorded, although each team's win-loss record remains unchanged. The game was the first official suspended tie for Quad Cities since April 30, 2003, when the club had its game in Beloit suspended in a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Great Lakes (35-27) got going immediately, as center fielder Alex Verdugo reached on a throwing error by River Bandits second baseman Thomas Lindauer to start the game. With designated hitter Alex Santana batting, Verdugo advanced to second on a wild pitch by Bostick and then scored on a base hit by Santana to give the Loons the early one run advantage. 

The lead was short-lived, as the River Bandits (41-21) struck back against Loons starter Kevin Guzman in the bottom of the first inning. Designated hitter Jason Martin led off by drawing a walk, followed by Nottingham's home run - a mammoth blast to left field that was hit an estimated 426 feet from home plate and landed close to the base of the Ferris wheel. 

Great Lakes tied the game in the second inning on a leadoff homerun by catcher Julian Leon, who hit his first of the season over the Modern Woodmen Berm in left field. The Loons added another one in the third on a two-out sacrifice fly by Santana, scoring Verdugo who reached on an error by shortstop Kristian Trompiz to start the inning and advanced to third on a single by first baseman Justin Chigbogu. 

River Bandits left fielder Sean McMullen led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double, and Trompiz bunted McMullen over to third base. Right fielder Ramon Laureano then hit a fly ball to right field that was caught by Federico Celli, allowing McMullen to tag up and score, tying the game at three. 

The starting pitchers each went all six innings and faced a combined one batter over the minimum in the fifth and sixth innings. Bostick struck out the final five Loons batters he faced to match a career high with seven strikeouts. Guzman allowed a two-out single to McMullen in the bottom of the sixth inning before striking out Trompiz to end the inning.

After a rain delay of just over one hour, the game was called. The game was suspended because five innings had been completed, but the teams will not play each other for the rest of the regular season - and so will not have a chance to resume the contest.

The River Bandits open their final first-half road series at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Clinton. River Bandits right-hander Brandon McNitt (0-2) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game series with the LumberKings.

UP NEXT: Modern Woodmen Park is hosting a Father's Day Cookout for the 1:15 p.m. game Sunday, June 21. Call 563-324-3000 to order a package that includes a game ticket and access to the all-you-can-eat buffet in the Budweiser Champions Club. The day includes a Mega Mini-Fridge Giveaway presented by Budweiser and 7G Distributing and is a Family Sunday presented by B100 and ESPN 93.5. Individual tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office and online at riverbandits.com. Ticket plans of 12 to 70 games - which include free parking, reserved seats, merchandise discounts, and guaranteed giveaways - are available by calling 563-324-3000.

ABOUT THE BANDITS: The River Bandits ownership in 2014 made one of the biggest improvements to Modern Woodmen Park since the ballpark was first built back in 1931! A new Ferris wheel, standing 105 feet over the playing field, opened May 24, Space Camp opened June 20; the new Drop'N Twist debuted in July; and the newly expanded 300-foot long zip line also reopened.