Wisconsin Drops Final Game of Road Trip with 8-4 Loss to Hot Rods

BOWLING GREEN, KY - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers struggles in the state of Kentucky continued on Monday afternoon at Bowling Green Ballpark. The Rattlers couldn't hold an early lead and dropped an 8-4 decision to the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Hot Rods swept the three-game series from Wisconsin.

Bowling Green (56-38 overall, 17-7 second half) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning on a hit batsman, a single, and a walk.   Wisconsin starting pitcher Adam Hill got out of the jam when he got Connor Hollis to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

The Rattlers (44-49, 13-11) took the lead in the top of the second inning on a two-out, two-run double by Brent Díaz.

Hill gave up a lead-off walk in the second inning, but worked around it. 

The Hot Rods got to Hill in the third inning to drive him from the game and take the lead. Ford Proctor started the inning with a single. Jonathan Aranda walked with one out. Chris Betts was next and he doubled to left to drive in Proctor. Hill got the second out of the inning on a popup, but he had to leave the game with 79 pitches under his belt.

Tyler Gilles entered the game and got ahead of Grant Witherspoon with two quick strikes, but lost him with four straight balls load the bases. A wild pitch allowed the tying run to score. Jordan Qsar put the Hot Rods up with a two-run single off the wall in right-center.

Bowling Green kept the pressure on when they hit again in the fourth inning. Izzy Wilson doubled with one out and Ford Proctor drove in Wilson with a single. Betts singled with two outs to score Proctor and the Hot Rods were up 6-2.

Wisconsin rallied in the top of the fifth inning with a pair of runs. Korry Howell started the uprising with a one-out walk. Thomas Dillard followed with a walk. Rios reached when his grounder to second was booted for an error and the Rattlers had the bases loaded. Gabriel García scored Howell with a single. Je'Von Ward got Dillard home with a sacrifice fly. Bowling Green starter Caleb Sampen got out of the jam when he retired McVey on a line drive to the gap in right-center that was run down by Wilson with a sliding catch. That last pitch of the inning was the 98^th and final pitch of the game for Sampen.

Rattlers reliever Robbie Hitt kept the Hot Rods off the scoreboard in the fifth and sixth innings to extend his scoreless streak to 16-1/3 innings. The streak was snapped in the seventh when Hollis hit a lead-off homer to put the Hot Rods up 7-4. The homer was also the first given up by Hitt in 42-1/3 innings this season.

Bowling Green added one more run on a two-out RBI single by Hollis in the eighth inning.

The Rattlers ended their six-game road trip to the Eastern Division with a 2-4 record. Wisconsin is now 2-13 in fifteen games at Bowling Green Ballpark since they started coming here in 2010.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday. The return to action Wednesday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium with the first game of a three-game series against the South Bend Cubs. Justin Jarvis (2-1, 3.27) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Cubs have scheduled Derek Casey (4-5, 4.72) as their starter. Game time is 7:05pm.

The Timber Rattlers, The History Museum at the Castle, and Fox Communities Credit Union are asking, "ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!?!?!!" Take part in an attempt to set a world record for most people performing air guitar at the same time! Free Air Guitars to everyone who attends this game! 

Fox Communities Credit Union will also be at the ballpark to hand out cash envelopes to the first 4,500 fans to attend the game. Random envelopes will have bills of various denominations inside of them.

Also on Wednesday, ThedaCare presents Cancer Awareness Night. The first 1,000 fans will receive a T-shirt and the first 5,000 fans will receive a Cancer Awareness Bell from ThedaCare. 

It's a Y100 Bang for Your Buck Night on Wednesday, too. Everyone can enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs and 16-ounce Pepsi products for $1. There are also 16-ounce domestic beers available for $2 to those of legal drinking age. 

Stick around after the game for a special Wednesday night fireworks display from ThedaCare.
The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and the TuneIn Radio app starting with the Papa John's Pizza Pregame Show at 6:45pm. MiLB.tv subscribers can watch the game over the internet.