Cougars roll to 6-1 road win

CLINTON, Iowa — With a season-high 15 hits from their offense, 6 strong innings from starter Leonel Santiago and errorless work by the defense, the Kane County Cougars cruised past the Clinton LumberKings 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Alliant Energy Field.

Five different Cougars had multiple hits, including Murray Watts, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of two-out RBI singles.

Watts’ first two-out single came in the first inning, driving in Brian Fletcher to make it 1-0. Gerard Hall bunted home Angel Franco in the second, and Yowill Espinal grounded out to score Ryan Jenkins later that inning to make it 3-0.

Santiago (1-2) gave up his only run in the fifth on a solo homer to Tim Morris. The right-hander yielded 3 hits, walked one and struck out five for the victory.

The Cougars padded their lead in the seventh on another two-out RBI single from Watts, and they managed 2 more in the eighth on a triple by Hall and a double by Alex Llanos.

Mitch Hodge worked a scoreless seventh, and Chas Byrne handled the final 2 innings, including a perfect ninth. Clinton totaled just 5 hits.