Kane County Cougars hold on for 9-7 victory

Despite a dramatic final two innings at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, the Kane County Cougars (33-32) hung on for an 8-7 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (21-45) Wednesday.

After scoring 4 straight runs, the Cougars took a 5-2 advantage into the eighth inning. Wisconsin rallied off the Cougars' bullpen with 4 runs in the top of the eighth.

The Cougars quickly retaliated and retook the advantage with some help from the Timber Rattlers' pitching staff. Three straight singles evened the score with Joe Munoz driving home Chuck Taylor. Wisconsin chose to intentionally load the bases by walking Victor Reyes, but quickly handed the Cougars the lead when Tyler Linehan (1-1) hit Cody Regis to force in a run. Another run scored when Wisconsin's Zach Cooper committed a balk.

Bringing an 8-6 lead into the ninth, Zac Curtis (13) nailed the save despite allowing a run.

Markus Solbach could not pick up his sixth consecutive win, but he did work his eighth quality start with 6 innings of 2-run baseball. Luis Ramirez (1-0) earned the win despite suffering a blown save.

The Cougars scored in the second, fourth and fifth innings. After Colin Bray's leadoff triple, Chuck Taylor's sacrifice fly put the Cougars on the board. Taylor provided another RBI with a run-scoring groundout in the fourth. Cody Regis added a triple of his own to drive home Reyes in the fifth.

The Cougars look to sweep the Timber Rattlers in the series finale Thursday. Right-hander Wei-Chieh Huang (3-0, 0.76) will take the mound for the Cougars against Wisconsin's lefty Zach Hirsch (2-3, 2.98). First pitch from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.