Cougars fall; Bandits roll

After winning 10-7 Wednesday, the Kane County Cougars scored 4 runs in the top of the first inning Thursday. But the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers battled back to defeat the visiting Cougars 11-5 at Time Warner Cable Field.

The Cougars’ lead for first place over Wisconsin is back to 1 game, and the three-game series is even at 1 win apiece.

The Cougars loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning against Matt Miller and ended up with 4 runs.

Angel Franco scored on a passed ball, Brian Fletcher nailed an RBI double, Jake Kuebler drove in a run and reached on an error, and Kevin David brought home a teammate by grounding into a double play.

But the Cougars did not score again until the eighth inning, and the Rattlers recovered against Leondy Perez.

Perez (2-9) allowed a season-high 9 runs on 13 hits in 5 innings. The Rattlers sent seven hitters to the plate against him three different times, and Perez failed to record a strikeout for just the second time this season in 16 outings.

Bandits 2, Racers 0:Fans were treated to a pitching matchup that lived up to its billing.Monica Abbott went inning for inning with Akron#146;s 2010 NPF Pitcher of the Year Lisa Norris until the Bandits grabbed a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.It was all the needed for its 12th victory.Abbott struck out 13. It was her second straight double-digit strikeout game and fourth on the season.