Cougars drop fifth straight

APPLETON, Wis. - For the first time all season, the Cougars saw a losing streak reach five games. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (21-17, 57-50) handed the Cougars (22-16, 67-41) their 11th shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night at Fox Cities Stadium.

Tristan Archer (4-5) became the fourth straight opposing starting pitcher to not allow the Cougars to score a run, as he fanned 11 throughout his 7 shutout innings. The Cougars managed 5 hits off Wisconsin's righty, but no walks.

Jen-Ho Tseng (6-1) matched Archer with 7 strong innings but surrendered a run in the fifth. Omar Garcia connected on a one-out double and stole third base before Jose Pena knocked him in on a groundball.

James Pugliese took over in the eighth but served up a single and a walk before being taken out. David Garner, making his Cougars debut, struck out Angel Ortega. After a double steal put both runners in scoring position, Garner threw a wild pitch to score Garcia for a 2-0 Wisconsin lead.

The Cougars threatened in the ninth, starting the inning with singles from Chesny Young and Ben Carhart. Archer made an errant throw that put runners in scoring position but retired the side to pick up his first save.

The Cougars on Thursday will try to avoid being swept for the second straight time with Ben Wells (0-0, 4.50) pitching against Wisconsin's Barrett Astin (6-5, 4.79). First pitch from Fox Cities Stadium is 7:05 p.m.