Wisconsin Shuts Out Beloit, 3-0

BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Beloit Snappers 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at Pohlman Field. Scott Sunitsch, who had just been promoted from the Pioneer League, pitched five scoreless innings in his first Timber Rattlers start and picked up the win. Wisconsin picked up ground on the Snappers in the Wild Card race with the win.
The Timber Rattlers (56-62 overall, 25-24 second half) scored first for the first time since the second game of last Sunday's doubleheader at Clinton when they plated two runs in the top of the fourth inning. They loaded the bases on a single by Eddie Silva and walks to Chad McClanahan and Payton Henry. Gilbert Lara gave the Rattlers the lead with a single to left to score Silva. Kenny Corey made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to center that was deep enough to score McClanahan.

Sunitsch, the 18^th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2018 draft, made his Midwest League debut a good one. Sunitsch was the starting pitcher for the Rattlers on Sunday and he allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out three over five shutout innings.

Beloit (60-57, 28-20) got something going against reliever Gabe Friese in the bottom of the sixth as the first two batters singled to put runners on the corners. Friese extinguished the rally by getting the first out on a popup to short and an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
Wisconsin added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning against reliever Joseph Camacho. Jay Feliciano doubled to start the inning and was sacrificed to third on a bunt by Nic Pierre. Camacho got the second out of the inning to keep Feliciano at third, but walked Zach Clark to extend the inning to Silva.

Silva, who had extended his hitting streak to nine games with his single in the fourth, delivered Feliciano to the plate with a single to right and the Rattlers were up 3-0.

The Snappers got something going in the eighth inning against Friese with a lead-off double and a walk to the first two batters of the frame. Friese for the first out of the inning before giving way to Robbie Hitt.

Hitt took over and retired the Snappers in the eighth on a pair of routine fly outs to keep the Rattlers up 3-0. The right-hander converted his eighth save in eight opportunities with a scoreless ninth inning.

The win allowed the Rattlers to pick up a game in the Second Half Western Division Wild Card Standings. They now trail the Snappers by 3-1/2 games with 21 games left on the Rattlers schedule
Game three of the series is Monday night at Pohlman Field. Dylan File (7-9, 4.14) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Jared Poche (7-6, 4.04) is set to start for the Snappers. Game time is 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 6:40pm. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps.