Cougars outhit West Michigan, still lose

The Kane County Cougars (30-11, 66-43) put together 11 hits against the West Michigan Whitecaps (23-17, 56-53), but fell 7-2 on Friday.

West Michigan started the offense quickly with 4 runs over the first 4 innings off of Cougar starter Ethan Elias (9-4). Two runs in the first inning and 2 in the fourth helped the Whitecaps never have to look back.

The Cougars offense didn't find the scoreboard until the top of the fifth as they scored 2 runs on 2 outs thanks to Chuck Taylor's RBI triple and Colin Bray's run-scoring single.

The Whitecaps grabbed 3 more runs in the bottom of the frame as they knocked Elias out of the contest.

AJ Ladwig (9-8) gave up 8 hits to the Cougars' offense, but his only blemish was the fifth. The right-hander finished with 7 frames of 2-run baseball and 5 strikeouts.

The Cougars look to even the series with a win on Saturday.