Wisconsin Beats Cubs in Series Finale

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers ended a pair of frustrating losing streaks with a 5-3 victory over the South Bend Cubs Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers had to rally from an early deficit, but they came back to take the lead and didn't let it go.

South Bend (53-44 overall, 14-14 second half) went in front in the first inning on a two-out, two-run home run by Kevonte Mitchell off Wisconsin starting pitcher Drake Owenby. The lefty would pitch four innings in the game before leaving on his pitch count and Owenby would hold the Cubs at two runs as he struck out six.

The Rattlers (38-58, 12-16) rallied to tie the game with single runs in the second and third innings. Ronnie Gideon drew a two-out walk to keep the second inning alive. Nathan Rodriguez followed with a double to the gap in left-center to score Gideon with Wisconsin's first run. Keston Hiura tied the game with an RBI double to score Devin Hairston from first base in the third.

Hiura started the Wisconsin rally to take the lead with a leadoff triple in the sixth inning. Weston Wilson was next and his dribbler up the third base line wasn't enough for Hiura to score, but it was enough for him to reach on an infield single. Tucker Neuhaus was up next and he lined a single to right to score Hiura. Neuhaus would round first base too far and got caught in a rundown. He eluded the first attempt at a tag, but was eventually tagged out. However, Neuhaus went down in pain holding his left knee and had to be helped off the field.

Joantgel Segovia added to the Timber Rattlers advantage when play resumed with an RBI single to score Wilson. Later in the inning, Rodriguez cashed in Segovia with another RBI single and the Rattlers were up 5-2.

Thomas Jankins, who entered the game for Owenby to start the fifth inning, allowed just one run over the final five innings. The run came in the top of the seventh inning when he uncorked a wild pitch with two outs to allow a runner to score from third base. But, that was it.

Jankins worked around a two-out walk in the eighth and a lead-off single in the ninth to close out the game for his fifth win of the season. Jankins struck out six in the contest.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Rattlers. The team also ended a seven-game home losing streak. Wisconsin's win on Friday was their first since they beat Quad Cities in thirteen innings back on June 28.
The Timber Rattlers host the West Michigan Whitecaps in a three-game series that begins on Saturday night. Nattino Diplan (2-7, 6.89) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Greg Soto (8-1, 2.44) is set to start for the Whitecaps. Game time is 6:35pm.
Saturday is a North Shore Bank Family Night with WIXX. Festival Foods presents the postgame fireworks celebration. After the fireworks, children 14 and under may run the bases courtesy of Tundraland.
If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast is also available on TuneIn Radio, IHeartRadio, and MiLB.tv.