Rattlers Win Season-Opener 6-1 at Beloit

BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers rallied from an early deficit on Thursday night at Pohlman Field to defeat the Beloit Snappers 6-1. The victory in the season-opening game was the first for the Timber Rattlers since 2013.
Beloit (0-1) took the lead with three consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the second inning. Codie Vance and Payton Squier started the rally with singles to put runners at first and second. Marcos Brito blooped a single to right to score Vance for the 1-0 lead.

The Rattlers (1-0) answered with a two-out trifecta of their own to take the lead. Brice Turang and David Fry got things going with back-to-back singles. A wild pitch by Snappers starter Chase Cohen allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Chad McClanahan cashed in the opportunity with a single to left that scored both runners for the 2-1 advantage.

Scotty Sunitsch was the Wisconsin starting pitcher and he scattered six hits with the help of five strikeouts and no walks over five innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. Sunitsch is now 4-0 in five starts as a Timber Rattlers dating back to August, 2018.

Wisconsin took advantage of a bout of wildness by Beloit reliever Jeferson Mejia in the seventh inning to add some insurance. Mejia walked four batters, allowed two hits, and threw a wild pitch in the inning. The frame started with Pablo Abreu singling and taking second on an error. After Turang drew a walk, Fry singled to center to score Abreu. The second walk of the inning loaded the bases. Connor McVey drew the third walk of the inning and this on forced Turang across the plate and the Rattlers were up 4-1.

Mejia threw a wild pitch later in the inning to allow Fry, who had three hits in the game, to score. The final run of the inning scored on a sacrifice fly by Jesús Lujano.

That was more than enough for a trio of Wisconsin relievers to close out the game. Logan Gillaspie pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Michael Mediavilla worked a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts. Sal Biasi finished the night by striking out the side in order in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rattlers pitchers struck out 13 while walking just one. Wisconsin's defense turned a pair of double plays and did not commit an error in the game.

Thursday's win marked the first Opening Night win for the Rattlers since April 4, 2013 when the team defeated the Peoria Chiefs 5-4 in eleven innings at Dozer Park.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Friday evening at Pohlman Field. Wilfred Salaman is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Adam Reuss is set to start for the Snappers. Game time is 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and TuneIn starting with the Papa John's Pizza Pregame show at 6:10pm.