Cougars split doubleheader with Kernels
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars (17-14) stayed even with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (17-14) after the teams split a doubleheader at Veterans Memorial Stadium Tuesday night. The Cougars took Game 1 2-0, but the Kernels scored late in Game 2 to salvage a split with a 3-2 win.
Trailing 2-0 in the second contest in the top of the fourth, the Cougars started a rally with a dropped third strike as Trevor Mitsui reached with one out. Joe Munoz singled to begin a string of 3 consecutive hits as Eduardo de Oleo and Josh Anderson each collected an RBI in the frame to tie the game at two.
Gabe Speier (1-1) took the mound in the sixth for Junior Garcia who started the second game and suffered the loss giving up the game-winning run. Brian Olson led off the frame with a walk and eventually scored on Luis Arraez's double.
Michael Theofanopoulos (1-0) earned the win in the second game as Nick Anderson picked up his third save, putting away the Cougars in the seventh and stranding the tying run at second.
Game 1 of the doubleheader featured a lot of productivity from the Cougars' as its pitching staff tossed its eighth shutout of the season. Bo Takahashi (1-0) earned his first quality outing of the year with his first start while catcher Jose Queliz drove in the game's only 2 runs.
Takahashi tossed six innings of shutout baseball only allowing 2 hits and striking out eight. The right-handed starter threw the 10th quality start by a Cougar pitcher this season. Cameron Gann took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and retired the Kernels in order for his fifth save of the year.
Offensively Queliz connected on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the second inning and belted his first home run of the year. Queliz launched a solo shot out of the ballpark over the left field bleachers for a 2-0 Cougar lead.
Cody Stashak (2-2) suffered the loss in the first game despite a quality start for the Kernels.
The series between the Kernels and Cougars concludes on Wednesday. Tyler Mark will make his Cougar debut against Cedar Rapids' Randy LeBlanc (3-2, 1.16). First pitch from Veterans Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Coverage on 1280 WBIG-AM and kccougars.com begins at 11:50 a.m.