Snappers' home struggles continue with nightmarish eighth inning

Beloit, WI - Everything was perfect through seven innings for the Snappers on Friday night. They had scored four runs early and held a one-run lead over Cedar Rapids, while Chase Cohen rebounded from his recent woes to turn in a quality start. All that was left was for Beloit's bullpen, which has been lockdown as of late, to close the door on the Kernels.

If only it were that easy. After the Snappers relief corps recorded the first two outs of the eighth inning, the omen that has cursed Beloit at home this season kicked in. Cedar Rapids scored three two-out runs without recording a hit and went on to defeat the Snappers 6-5. Beloit fell to 6-17 at Pohlman Field with the loss.
Cohen (4-5, 7.19 ERA), Beloit's 2019 Opening Day starter, entered the night with a dismal 12.58 ERA over his last six starts. Early on Friday night, those struggles seemed bound to continue. After a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning, Cohen surrendered an opposite field home run to Andrew Bechtold in the second. Beloit briefly tied the game on Skyler Weber's RBI single in the bottom of the inning, but a Ben Rodriguez two-run single quickly put Cedar Rapids back on top.
The Snappers would once again answer in the bottom of the inning, however. Lester Madden's two-run double knotted the contest at 3-3 before an RBI single from John Jones gave Beloit its first lead of the night.
Cohen settled in nicely from there, tossing scoreless ball the rest of the way. He allowed the three runs in six innings of work while walking two and striking out three.
Called on in relief of Cohen was Michael Murray, making his first appearance since allowing seven runs in 1 1/3 innings against Kane County last week. Murray retired the first five batters he faced, but lost control of the strike zone thereafter. He issued four consecutive two-out walks to tie the game at 4-4; Jaimito Lebron entered after the fourth walk and promptly allowed an infield single. Shortstop Max Schuemann failed to corral the ball after it deflected off Lebron, which let another run score on the play. Cedar Rapids finished the inning having scored three runs without tallying a hit.
Despite the unsightly conclusion for the Snappers, their play leading up to the eighth inning was encouraging. Schuemann remains the hottest hitter in Beloit's lineup, as he went 2-for-4 with a walk to keep his average at .400. Madden, who also turned in a 2-for-4 performance, appears to be heating up once again, and is now hitting .412 over his last four games.
Beloit roughed up Kernels starter Tyler Palm (1-4, 4.75 ERA) for four runs in three innings, but righty reliever Jose Martinez kept the Snappers in check with four shutout innings.
The Snappers will look to bounce back tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. CT. Reid Birlingmair (2-0, 2.37 ERA) will look to stay hot while Cedar Rapids will counter with right-hander Cole Sands (2-1, 3.05 ERA). Tomorrow night is the first fireworks night of the season at Pohlman Field, sponsored by West Bend Mutual.
The Beloit Snappers are a member of the Midwest League and have been the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. For more ticket information, contact the Snappers office at (608) 362-2272 or visit our website, www.snappersbaseball.com