Cougars fall to Loons 8-3

Dropping their third straight series, the Kane County Cougars (17-13) fell in the rubber match to the Great Lakes Loons (15-18) by an 8-3 final on Wednesday. Although the game was tied midway through the contest, the Loons tallied 5 unanswered runs to finish the game.

Against right-hander Dustin May (0-1), the Cougars were the first to score in the third inning taking a 1-0 advantage. Catcher Alexis Olmeda started the frame with a double and scored right away on an RBI from Paxton De La Garza, production from the bottom of the Cougars order.

But Great Lakes responded with a 3-run bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Facing righty Mitchell Aker (0-0) in his Diamondbacks organizational debut, the Loons Gage Green plugged a 2-RBI double to the left-center gap and scored on an RBI knock from Saige Jenco.

A lively Cougars offense locked up the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. After two walks issued May, Billy Endris sawed a pitch into left field for a 2-RBI base hit sending May out of the game.

The close game was broken open for good when the Loons scored 5 unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Keibert Ruiz and Gage Green drove in runs, while Oneil Cruz sent a fly ball past deep right-field for a three-run homer in the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out and two runners on base, the game was called due to rain and field conditions giving the Loons an 8-3 victory. With the win, right-hander Miguel Urena (1-0) logged two scoreless on the mound for the Loons. The loss goes to right-hander Jake Winston (1-1) for the Cougars.

The Cougars are back in action to start to a three-game home series against the Lansing Lugnuts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. On the mound, the Cougars start right-hander Curtis Taylor (0-0, 2. 25 ERA) against the Lugnuts' right-hander Justin Maese (3-2, 4.89 ERA).