Second Half Begins with Bandits’ Third-Straight Loss 

Appleton, Wisconsin – The Quad Cities River Bandits lost their second half opener and their third-straight game on Friday night, as they fell to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-3 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

In their fourth matchup of the season, Bandits’ starter Charlie Neuweiler and T-Rats’ starter Justin Jarvis each worked more than half of the game, but it was Jarvis who blinked first with Dillan Shrum blasting a solo shot to left field for his eighth of the season and a 1-0 Q.C. lead in the second.

After three scoreless innings to start his night, Neuweiler had retired 12 consecutive Wisconsin batters with two outs in the fourth, but the Timber Rattlers collected four-straight hits off of the righty including a two-run double by Ethan Murray and then, one pitch later, an RBI single from Ashton McGee, who made it a 3-1 Bandits’ deficit.

Now working with the lead, Jarvis struck out the side in order in the fifth, while Neuweiler rebounded for a one-two-three frame of his own. In the top of the sixth however, the Wisconsin starter allowed one-out singles to Kale Emshoff and Shrum to end Jarvis’s night after 5.1 innings.

Justin King took over on the mound for the Ratters and walked Morgan McCullough to load the bases before surrendering the lead on Juan Carlos Negret’s two-run, game-tying double, but that is all Quad Cities would get in the frame.

Neuweiler completed his sixth inning of work and kept the game tied, having thrown a 6.0-inning start for the third game in-a-row.

In the seventh, Christian Cosby took over for the Bandits’ starter and retired the first two Wisconsin batters, but on his first pitch to Jose Acosta, he gave up a towering solo homer to right, which gave the Rattlers a 4-3 lead.

Shrum and McCullough each found themselves on again in the eighth against Robbie Baker as the tying and go-ahead runs, but Cam Robinson entered the game and struck out both Negret and Burle Dixon to end the threat before facing the minimum in the ninth and securing a save on a game-ending double play.

With help from the Timber Rattlers’ closer, Baker (1-2) got the win for Wisconsin, while Cosby (0-1) took the loss in his return to the River Bandits, allowing one run in two innings of relief.

Neuweiler picked up his fourth quality start of the season, allowing three runs and striking out six in 6.0 innings. Jarvis didn’t factor into the decision either, but also struck out six in 5.1 innings.

Quad Cities will look to avoid its eighth series loss of the season on Saturday, as Noah Cameron (2-0, 3.00) gets the start against the T-Rats’ Antoine Kelly (1-3, 3.34). First pitch at Fox Cities Stadium is scheduled for 6:40pm.