Wisconsin Misses Opportunities in 4-1 Loss to Loons

MIDLAND, MI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers missed a lot of chances early in Sunday's game against the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond and it cost them. The Loons defeated Wisconsin 4-1 to win their ninth consecutive game.
Niko Hulsizer put the Loons (17-12) up 1-0 with a long home run to left in the first inning.

Great Lakes nearly added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Dan Robinson started the inning with a triple, but Wisconsin starting pitcher Max Lazar worked through the jam without allowing a run.
The Rattlers (12-16) had several opportunities early in the game to get on the scoreboard, but they left nine runners on base in the first five innings. The best chance was in the fifth inning. Brice Turang singles and Yeison Coca walked to put two runners on base. Chad McClanahan ripped a line drive over the head of the right fielder with one out. However, Turang held up to make sure the ball wouldn't be caught and got a late start. Robinson played the ball perfectly on one hop off the wall and fired to Jacob Amaya, his cutoff man. Amaya threw a strike to the plate that was just in time to get Turang for the second out of the inning.

Wisconsin loaded the bases when Gabriel García drew a walk, but a grounder to first ended the Wisconsin threat in the fifth.

Robinson doubled the Great Lakes lead with a lead-off homer to right-center in the bottom of the fifth.

Lazar left with runners at second and third with two outs in the fifth and Peter Strzelecki got the final out with a strikeout. Lazar allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 4-2/3 innings, but he was still on the hook for the loss.

Wisconsin cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the seventh against reliever Jasiel Alvino. Turang and Coca started the inning with singles to put runners at the corners with no outs. David Fry drove in Turang with a sacrifice fly and the Rattlers trailed by one run.

But, the Loons answered in the bottom of the seventh to add an insurance run. Hulsizer singled to left and took second on an error on the play. A grounder to first moved Hulsizer to third base. Robbie Hitt relieved Strzelecki and got the second out with a strikeout. However, Jair Camargo lined an 0-2 pitch to left for an RBI single and a 3-1 advantage.

Great Lakes added one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Robinson's slow chopper over the mound with runners at the corners and no outs got a run home from third and the Loons were up 4-1.

Wisconsin went down in order in the eighth and ninth innings. They were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded eleven runners in the game. Great Lakes was 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position on Sunday afternoon, but they did enough to complete the three-game sweep.

The Timber Rattlers ended their six-game road trip on a sour note. They had won the first two games of the trip to get to the .500 mark, but Sunday's loss was the fourth straight for the Rattlers.
Wisconsin returns to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium to begin a nine-game, ten-day homestand on Monday night. The Fort Wayne TinCaps are the first opponent of the homestand. Scotty Sunitsch (2-3, 3.03) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Fort Wayne has named Ramon Perez (0-1, 4.60) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm.

The Timber Rattlers are offering $5 reserved seat tickets to medical professionals and their families as part of Medical Professionals Week in association with ThedaCare. Just head to the ticket page on the Rattlers website and use promo code "medical" for any of the games on May 6, May 7, May 8, and May 9.

Monday is a Qdoba Q*Monday with NASH-FM, 99.5 & 104.9. Stop at a Qdoba location in Appleton, Neenah, or Oshkosh for lunch on Monday and purchase an entrée. You will receive a free ticket to this game.

If you can't make it out to the game, you can still catch all the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and the TuneIn Radio app starting with the Papa John's Pizza Pregame Show at 6:15pm. MiLB.tv subscribers can watch the game over the internet.

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