LINCOLN, Nebraska – DH Jason Rogers had four hits, but the ‘Dogs lost 11-6 to the Kane County Cougars at Haymarket Park on Sunday afternoon.
Rogers is 7-for-12 in his first three games back but the ‘Dogs (34-33) lost their first game of the four-game series.
Rogers opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 3rd inning before Kane County (33-35) tied the game with an RBI groundout from DH Jonah Davis in the 4th.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the 5th inning. 3B Olivier Basabe led off the inning with a homer, and later in the inning 1B Todd Lott hit a grand slam – his fourth homer of the series – to make it 6-1.
CF Nick Anderson hit his 19th homer and second in as many games to make it 6-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Kane County scored two more in the 7th. RF Armond Upshaw made it 7-2 with an RBI single before Lott’s fifth RBI of the game came on a groundout to make it 8-2.
The Cougars extended the lead to 9-2 on a sacrifice fly from LF Harrison Smith in the 8th inning, and Kane County added two more on an RBI single from Basabe and RBI groundout from C Hector Sanchez in the 9th inning.
Lincoln rallied for four runs in the 9th inning. 2B Nate Samson hit a two-run single and RF Connor Panas had a two-RBI single later in the inning.
RHP Zach Keenan allowed six runs – five earned – with no walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. RHP Carter Hope allowed two runs in one inning, RHP Matt Cronin allowed one run in the 8th and RHP Nic Laio allowed two runs – one earned – in the 9th inning.
1B Luke Roskam went 2-for-4 with a walk and has now reached a league-leading 33 straight times.
The series concludes on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:35 on KFOR FM 101.5/1240 AM.
The Saltdogs are back in 2023! Single-game tickets for all games are on sale now. Reserve your seats now by calling 402-474-BALL (2255) or order on-line at Saltdogs.com.