Kane County Cougars down Dayton Dragons

GENEVA, Ill. - Another strong offensive night helped the Kane County Cougars (28-28) get back to .500 with an 8-5 win over the Dayton Dragons (30-25) from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark on Saturday. With the win, the Cougars reach .500 for the sixth time in 2015.

Never trailing in the game, the Cougars put up 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to 5 consecutive singles. Marty Herum, Colin Bray and Stryker Trahan all drove in a run with a base hit, as Joe Munoz's ground out drove in the 4th run of the inning.

Wei-Chieh Huang (3-0) found some trouble in the third inning, but only allowed the Dragons to score in that frame. Hitting Ronald Bueno to begin the frame, the right-hander gave up 3 runs to the Dayton offense, which cut the Cougars' lead 4-3.

The offense picked up again in the fourth as the Cougars grabbed another run. In the fifth, the Cougars used some 2-out ingenuity for a couple more runs off Tejay Antone (3-5). After a groundout and strikeout, Herum and Bray connected on back-to-back singles before Trahan's 2-run double down the right field line. Herum added another run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Dayton did not see the scoreboard again until the ninth inning as Tom Jameson and Cody Geyer allowed no hits and faced the minimum through innings 6-8. Jency Solis created drama in the ninth allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, but sealed the win for the Cougars.

The Cougars can guarantee a series win with a victory over the Dragons on Sunday. The Cougars will send their right-hander Touki Toussaint (0-2, 3.00) to the mound against Dayton's left-hander Seth Varner (5-3, 3.27). First pitch from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark is scheduled for 1 p.m.