Timber Rattlers Score the Game’s Final Three Runs, Top Kernels 3-2

Appleton, WI – Cedar Rapids scored a pair of runs to open the scoring Saturday, but it was Wisconsin that scored two in the fifth and one in the sixth to top the Kernels for the third straight night, 3-2.

After Wisconsin scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off the Kernels on Friday, Cedar Rapids got back on the board first on Saturday. After four scoreless innings to begin the contest, Misael Urbina singled to lead off the top of the fifth. After the next two batters were retired, Urbina stayed at first with two outs for Luke Keaschall, who walked, as did the next Emmanuel Rodriguez to load the bases for Kala’i Rosario. With the bases full, Rosario lined a single up the middle to plate two to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Wisconsin struck right back. Alex Hall walked to begin the inning, and after a wild pitch and flyout moved him to third, Eric Brown Jr. got the Timber Rattlers on the board with an RBI double. The next batter, Luis Lara, then grounded a single up the middle to plate Brown to tie the game at 2-2.

But those two Wisconsin Runs were the only two allowed by Cedar Rapids starter John Klein. In his Kernels debut, Klein went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk in a no-decision.

That 2-2 tally stayed the score until the bottom of the seventh inning. After two quick outs to begin the frame, Brown reached on a walk. After stealing second, Brown came home to score on a Lara RBI triple to give Wisconsin its first lead of the night at 3-2, the score which would be the final.

The loss for the Kernels (82-49) is the third straight series against Wisconsin (61-68) after winning the first two games of the series. The two sides wrap up the regular season Sunday at 12:10 with Alejandro Hidalgo on the mound for Cedar Rapids, opposite Aaron Ashby.