Big Sixth Inning Leads To Wisconsin's Third Straight Win

SOUTH BEND, IN - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers went 10-for-24 with runners in scoring position on Sunday afternoon, including a key spot in a seven-run sixth inning, to defeat the South Bend Cubs 11-7 at Four Winds Field.
Wisconsin (41-51 overall, 10-13 second half) took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning. Darren Seferina drew a walk and stole second to start the game. Tristen Lutz doubled to the corner in left with one out to score Seferina.

The Rattlers added to their lead in the second inning on RBI singles by Brent Diaz and Seferina.

South Bend (46-47, 12-12) evened the score with three runs in the bottom of the second. Delvin Zinn doubled in two runs to get the Cubs on the scoreboard. An RBI grounder by Chris Singleton later in the inning got Zinn home with the tying run.

Nelson Hernández, the Wisconsin starter, managed to keep the game tied by escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the third. Hernández got the first out with a strikeout, made an athletic play to field a grounder and get the force out at home for the second out, and breathed a sigh of relief when Cam Balego's deep drive to right was caught just short of the warning track.

Lutz put the Rattlers back in front in the top of the fifth inning. Zack Clark doubled to start the inning and Lutz followed with a single to make it 4-3.

However, the Cubs rallied in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Clayton Anderson. Austin Upshaw's two-out RBI single drove in the tying run.

Wisconsin's offense went back in front in the top of the sixth inning. Diaz started the inning with a walk and took second on a balk. Nic Pierre sent a blooper to left field and Diaz was going to stop at third base, but the ball was bobbled in left and Diaz raced for home with the go-ahead run as Pierre took second base.

Pierre was still at second base with two outs and it looked like the Rattlers would have to settle for a 5-4 lead. There was no settling for the Wisconsin offense on Sunday.

Lutz drove in Pierre with a double or his third hit of the game and that started a string of five straight two-out, RBI hits by the Rattlers. KJ Harrison, who also had three hits on Sunday, smacked a single to get Lutz home and he took second on the throw home. Gilbert Lara extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single that scored Harrison. Rob Henry, who made a pair of sliding catches in left field to save a few runs earlier in the game, got into the act with his bat on an RBI double to get Lara home. Gabriel García capped the inning with a long home run to left and Wisconsin's lead went from 5-4 to 11-4 in the blink of an eye.

Andrews, the 17^th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2018 draft, would give up a two-out, solo home run to Nico Hoerner, the 1^st round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2018 draft, in the bottom of the sixth, but that was all the damage he would allow. Andrews was credited with the victory on Sunday, his first as a professional.

Hoerner capped the scoring in the game with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning against Matt Hardy.

Rodrigo Benoit, the fourth Wisconsin pitcher of the game, closed out the Cubs with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

The win was the third in a row for the Rattlers and it guarantees them at least a .500 road trip to the Eastern Division before returning home to face Dayton and Bowling Green in a six-game homestand that starts on Wednesday night.
The final game of the series - and of Wisconsin's road trip - is set for Monday afternoon. Bowden Francis (4-6, 4.87) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Cubs have named Ryan Lawlor (0-1, 5.14) as their starter. Game time at Four Winds Field is 12:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 11:45am CDT. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps. Subscribers to MiLB.tv can watch the game over the internet.