Two-Out Offense Sparks Bandits’ Victory Over Rattlers

Appleton, Wisconsin – The Quad Cities River Bandits scored four of their five runs with two outs on Thursday, as they topped the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-3 at Fox Cities Stadium for the club’s first win in Appleton since 2023.

While the bats took center stage late, the ballgame began as a pitcher’s duel, with Bandits’ starter Steven Zobac and Rattlers’ starter K.C. Hunt combining to allow just one unearned run over 11.0 innings.

With Hunt tossing 5.0 scoreless in his first-career start, Wisconsin was the first to break through and got the unearned tally on Luke Adams’ RBI single to take a 1-0 in the fourth. However, Zobac would retire the next six batters he would face in order to close out his third quality start of the season.

Before Zobac departed, Quad Cities got him a run and tied the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth. Rattlers’ reliever Chase Costello began the frame with back-to-back strikeouts, but then surrendered back-to-back doubles to Brett Squires and Kale Emshoff, with the latte plating the run.

In the seventh, the Bandits tagged Tyler Wehrle for a run and took a 2-1 lead on Jack Pineda’s RBI fielder’s choice. After Chazz Martinez stranded the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the home half of the frame, Quad Cities added on against Wehrle again—this time in the eighth—plating one run on an error and a pair on a two-out, two-run blast from Dustin Dickerson, his first of the season.

Martinez returned to the hill to protect a now 5-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth and, despite recording the first two outs of the frame, surrendered runs on RBI singles from Jheremy Vargas and Jadher Areinamo Ben Sears would come on for the final out of the inning and got the game-tying run in Luke Adams to ground out and end the threat.

Despite failing to take advantage of two ninth-inning base runners, both of whom reached scoring position, the Bandits failed to add onto the now two-run lead against Yerlin Rodriguez, but it would be plenty for Sears, who tossed a perfect ninth for a four-out save, his team-leading fifth of the season.

Zobac (3-4) earned the win for Quad Cities, completing 6.0 innings with no walks and three strikeouts, while Wehrle (2-1) allowed four runs over 2.0 innings of relief in the Rattlers’ loss. Chazz Martinez departed on the hook for two runs in 1.2 innings, but earned a hold, his second of the year.

The River Bandits will look to even the six-game series at two games apiece on Friday, as Frank Mozzicato (2-4, 3.11) will start opposite Wisconsin’s Will Rudy (1-4, 5.87). First pitch at Fox Cities Stadium is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.