Snappers rally to clip Cougars

Down by 3 runs in the top of the sixth inning, the Beloit Snappers strung together 5 consecutive hits witgh two outs and scored 4 runs en route to a 6-5 win over the Kane County Cougars on Sunday night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva.

Ryan Mathews singled with two outs and Chad Lewis on first to chase Cougars starter Tayler Scott from the contest. Eddie Orozco (2-3) took over and allowed a 2-run double to Brett Vertigan that pulled Beloit (29-20) within a run. Daniel Robertson tied the game with a double that drove home Vertigan,a nd John Wooten singled home Robertson to give the Snappers the lead.

Raul Alcantara (6-1) exited the contest with the advantage after 5 innings, and the Beloit bullpen did the rest. Stu Pudenz got through the sixth and seventh innings without allowing a run. Tucker Healy surrendered a walk and a single in the eighth but held off the Cougars (23-25), as did Ryan Dull, who worked around a couple of baserunners in the bottom of the ninth and struck out Dan Vogelbach to end the game.

Beloit took the initial lead when Renato Nunez doubled home 2 runs in the top of the first. Vogelbach knocked home Pin-Chieh Chen with a groundout in the bottom of the first to put the Cougars on the board. Two innings later, Gioskar Amaya cracked a home run to even the score at 2-2.

In the fourth, the Cougars took the lead. Bijan Rademacher and Willson Contreras reached with consecutive hits and Marco Hernandez singled to center, driving home Rademacher. Contreras scored after an errant throw from Vertigan in center. Vogelbach put the Cougars up 5-2 with an RBI fielder’s choice that brought home Chen.

The Cougars and Snappers finish their four-game series at 1 p.m. today at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. Left-hander Michael Heesch (2-4) starts for the Cougars against righty Michael Ynoa (0-1).