The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers almost the entire game on Wednesday night at Pohlman Field as they built a 5-1 lead. The Beloit Snappers caught Wisconsin with a run in the seventh and three runs in the ninth. The Rattlers went back in front with two runs in the top of the tenth, but the Snappers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the tenth inning to defeat Wisconsin 8-7. Troy Johnston knocked in the winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the tenth.
Thomas Dillard lined a home run off the light tower beyond the right field fence on a 3-0 pitch to start the top of the second inning. Dillard’s sixth home run of the season gave Wisconsin (23-26) a 1-0 lead.
Beloit (24-26) threatened to score in the bottom of the second inning with a walk and a single by the first two batters. Wisconsin starting pitcher Victor Castañeda got out of the inning with a popup and a 6-4-3 double play. Then, the Wisconsin offense went to work in the top of the third.
The Timber Rattlers converted four straight hits into three runs. LG Castillo started the rally with a double to right-center. David Hamilton was next and he cracked a home run over the 16-foot high wall in center. Korry Howell beat out an infield single and Garrett Mitchell doubled to center to keep the rally going. Dillard sent a hard grounder to first that got Howell home and Wisconsin led 4-0.
Griffin Conine got Beloit on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning. The homer was fifteenth of the season for Conine.
Wisconsin got that run back in the top of the sixth inning. Garrett Mitchell singled, stole second, and went to third on a ground out. A wild pitch by Snappers starter Bryan Hoeing allowed Mitchell to score and the Rattlers were up 5-1.
Freisis Adames worked through two scoreless innings and turned the game over to John LaRossa.
LaRossa allowed a run on a one-out single by Kameron Misner in the bottom of the seventh. The hit scored Connor Scott from second and sent Thomas Jones around to third base. LaRossa got the second out on a shallow fly to left that kept the runners at the corners, but also brought Conine to the plate as the tying run.
Conine never got a chance. Misner took off for second before LaRossa could deliver his 2-1 pitch to Conine. LaRossa stepped off and threw to Hamilton covering second base. Hamilton didn’t wait to get Misner in a run down and threw home immediately when he saw Jones take off for the plate. Jones got caught in a rundown and was eventually tagged out by catcher Nick Kahle for the final out.
The Snappers put two runners on again in the bottom of the eighth inning against Harold Chirino. The right-hander struck out the first two batters he faced but an error and a single brought the tying run to the plate. Chirino got the final out on a grounder to second.
In the bottom of the ninth, Scott doubled off the wall in right and Jones drew a walk to start the inning. Misner drove a double to left-center to score both runners and chase Chirino.
Taylor Floyd took over and got the first out on a fly ball to the track in left that was deep enough to allow Misner to tag and go to third. That brought Conine to the plate and he singled over the drawn-in infield to send Misner home with the tying run.
Castillo put the Rattlers back in front in the top of the tenth inning with a two-run home run over the wall in left-center. It was Castillo’s first home run of the season and Wisconsin had a 7-5 lead.
Nash Walters, the sixth Wisconsin pitcher of the night, came on to pitch the ninth. An error on a grounder off the bat of Ricky Aracena started the inning and allowed the runner that started the inning at second to score and the lead was down to one run. The error was the third of the night by the Rattlers
Scott was next and he singled to left on a hit run play to send Aracena to third. A soft grounder to third off the bat of Jones scored Aracena with the tying run. Walters hit Misner on a 2-2 pitch and that brough Johnston to the plate.
Walters got ahead of Johnson 1-2, but the next pitch was lined to left on one-hop for a single. Je’Von Ward came up throwing, but Scott was able to just beat the play at the plate and score the winning run for the Snappers.
Wednesday night was the third Timber Rattlers game to go to extra innings this season. All three have been on the road. The Rattlers have had the lead in all three extra-innings games but have lost in walkoff fashion in all three as well.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Wisconsin, too.
Game three of the series is set for Thursday night at Pohlman Field. Reese Olson (3-4, 4.98) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Snappers have named Kyle Nicolas (3-1, 4.62) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm.
