Quad Cities Slams for Second-Straight Night, Defeats Wisconsin to Even Series

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits hit a grand slam for the second night in-a-row on Friday and topped the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 7-3 at Modern Woodmen Park to even their six-game set at two wins apiece.

After Jared Dickey hit his first professional slam in an 8-1 win on Thursday, it was Jack Pineda who lifted off as part of a three-hit night on Friday.

The River Bandits snagged their initial lead in the first inning, with Carson Roccaforte scoring on a Yujanyer Herrera wild pitch and then struck again via Roccaforte in the second, as the centerfielder drove in Pineda with an RBI single. Those two runs would be Quad Cities’ only against the Rattlers starter who despite allowing eight total base runners and throwing three wild pitches, minimized the damage over his 4.1-inning start.

Quad Cities starter, Frank Mozzicato, didn’t allow a hit through his first three innings, navigating around just a pair of walks, but after allowing a leadoff triple to Dylan O’Rae to lead off the fourth, the left-hander saw Wisconsin break into the run column via Luke Adams’ sacrifice-fly one batter later.

With the Bandits’ lead trimmed to one, the Rattlers took their first lead of game 3-2 in the fifth on a Jheremy Vargas two-run homer, but the advantage wouldn’t last long, as in the bottom of the frame, Quad Cities loaded the bases against the newly entered Chase Costello and saw Jack Pineda leave the yard for the second time this season and his first time in grand style.

After his team jumped back in front 6-3, Oscar Rayo shutdown the Wisconsin bats with 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and earned his first hold, while lowering his season’s earned run average to 1.15.

Carter Jensen extended Quad Cities’ lead to 7-3 and his hit streak to six games in the eighth by doubling in Pineda for an insurance run before Ben Sears pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to close out the ballgame.

Completing his fourth-straight 5.0-inning start, Frank Mozzicato (2-1) struck out four and earned his second win of the year for Quad Cities, while Costello (0-2) recorded just two outs and was tagged with the loss for the Rattlers, giving up the four runs on Pineda’s slam.

The River Bandits will look to guarantee themselves a split of the six-game series and retake sole possession of first place in the Midwest League West Division on Saturday behind Henry Williams (1-0, 3.91) who will make the start opposite Wisconsin’s Alexander Cornielle (2-1, 5.01). First pitch at Modern Woodmen Park is slated for 6:00 p.m.