Cougars come from behind to beat Bees in 11

The Kane County Cougars came back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat the Burlington Bees 6-5 in 11 innings Tuesday afternoon at Elfstrom Stadium.

Max Stassi's two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth tied the score, and Rashun Dixon's bases-loaded walk in the 11th won it.

Burlington built a 5-0 lead through five innings. Cougars starter Ian Krol gave up four runs on four hits in two innings, and newcomer Ryan Quigley yielded an unearned run in the fifth. But the Bees managed only one hit and never scored the rest of the way against Quigley, Bo Schultz, A.J. Huttenlocker and Jose Guzman.

Stassi poked a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Myrio Richard singled home Mike Gilmartin in the seventh to make it 5-2. Then Richard nailed a solo homer with one out in the ninth, and Stassi smacked a double to score Kent Walton and Tyreace House to pull the Cougars even. With two outs and the bases empty in the 11th, four straight Cougars drew a walk, with Dixon taking a low payoff pitch to end a 3-hour, 59-minute marathon. Guzman (1-0) notched the win over Scott Kelley (0-1).

The win gave the The Cougars their fourth in a row, and they swept the three-game set against Burlington.

The Cougars (4-2) continue their nine-game homestand Wednesday night at 6 p.m. when they open a three-game series against the Beloit Snappers. Rob Gilliam (0-1, 16.87) will face Daniel Osterbrock (0-1, 11.57).