Lincoln shuts down Cougars

The Lincoln Saltdogs clinched their series against the Kane County Cougars Wednesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field, riding five home runs and a dominant outing from left-hander Cam Dayton to a 10-5 victory.

Dayton (3-1) turned in his best performances of the season, retiring 18 consecutive Cougars at one point while allowing just one run over seven innings to earn the win.

Lincoln (35-51) struck first in the opening inning when Nick Shumpert blasted a solo homer off the left-field scoreboard. Kane County answered immediately as Armond Upshaw singled to lead off the inning. Josh Allen shot a double into center field that scored Upshaw and tied the game at 1-1.

The Saltdogs regained the lead in the second on Cary Arbolida's solo home run before Vin Timpanelli (3-6) settled in, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced. But Lincoln broke the game open in the sixth. Jairo Pomares launched a two-run homer to right, and Jake Hjelle followed later in the inning with another two-run blast to stretch the lead to 6-1.

Lincoln continued to add on, scoring once in the eighth before Shumpert crushed his second home run of the night — a three-run shot in the ninth — to cap a five-homer performance for the Saltdogs.

The Cougars (41-33) mounted one final push in the ninth. Charles Mack and Nick Dalesandro opened the inning with singles before Armond Upshaw delivered a two-run single that, combined with a throwing error, brought home three runs. Jairus Richards added an RBI single to trim the deficit to 10-5, but Jack Hill entered to record the final out and end the comeback.