Cougars suffer walk-off loss in Beloit

The Kane County Cougars (53-54, 18-20) suffered a walk-off loss, 3-2, against the Beloit Snappers (55-51, 23-14) on Wednesday night at Pohlman Field in Wisconsin.

The Snappers took the advantage in the second inning. Logan Farrar led off with a hit-by-pitch. The next batter, Miguel Mercedes, singled to right field. An error by Cougar right fielder Yan Sanchez allowed Farrar to score and Mercedes to advance to third base. Jack Meggs was the next hitter and he hit a sacrifice fly to left field, making it 2-0.

The Cougars clawed away, cutting the lead in half in the fourth. Jose Caballero's RBI triple brought the Cougars to within a run. After a Ryan Grotjohn double in the sixth, Jacarlos Cintron tied the game with an RBI single.

Meanwhile, Cole Bartlett kept the Cougars in the game with his performance on the mound. After allowing two runs in the second inning, Bartlett retired 15 of the next 17 batters on his way to a career-high seven innings pitched. He exited with the game tied and took no-decision.

Luis Castillo (0-1) came out of the Cougar pen to make his Cougar debut. He hurled a scoreless eighth inning. However, in the bottom of the ninth, Miguel Mercedes doubled to lead off the inning. With one out, Ryan Gridley singled to center field, earning the Snappers the walk-off win.

Heath Bowers (5-2) tossed three shutout innings, scattering just three hits. Bowers was the pitcher of record for the Snappers. Starter Jared Poche threw six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.