Cougars take home opener thanks to generous defense

All of the Kane County Cougars' runs against the TinCaps came unearned Tuesday night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. The Cougars took advantage of 5 Fort Wayne errors for their first home opener victory since 2010 winning 4-3 in 12 innings.

Defensive mistakes by the opponent allowed the Cougars to quickly take the lead.

Jake Hannemann led the offense with a single in the first inning and stole second. Two batters later, Ben Carhart walked.

Yasiel Balaguert then hit into a fielder's choice, but an errant throw from Franchy Cordero allowed Hannemann to score and Carhart to reach third. Jacob Rogers followed with another fielder's choice that sent Carhart home for a 2-0 Cougars lead.

The Cougars tacked on another unearned run in the second inning. With one out, Trey Martin reached second base on another infield throwing error. Hannemann delivered a two-out RBI single to push the Cougars ahead 3-0.

The TinCaps tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth and it stayed that way until the Cougars won it in the 12th. Carlos Penalver singled, then got to third when an errant throw on Hannemann's bunt attempt got away.

After Daniel Lockhart was intentionally walked, Carhart hit a groundball to the TinCaps' shortstop Cordero. Cordero's attempt to throw home went wild and Penalver came home for the winning run.