Geneva, Illinois- It took extra innings Saturday night; however, the Lincoln Saltdogs won a momentum shifting, back and forth contest, 5-3 in eleven innings, over the Kane County Cougars, at Northwestern Medicine Field. Drew DeVine, who returned to the Saltdogs Saturday, delivered a go-ahead two-RBI triple in the top of the eleventh inning, and Franny Cobos recorded a strikeout with the bases loaded to secure the Lincoln win.
Lincoln (7-13) scored five runs off nine hits and committed one error. Kane County (8-12) had three runs off six hits with no errors.
The Saltdogs scored three runs in the top of the second. Yusniel Diaz started the inning with a double off Kane County starter Jack Fox. Two batters later, Neyfy Castillo doubled, scoring Diaz, to put Lincoln ahead, 1-0. The next batter, Connor Denning, hit an RBI single, plating Castillo, to make it a 2-0, Lincoln lead. Two batters later, Danny Bautista, Jr. singled, bringing home Denning, and the Saltdogs had a 3-0 lead.
Lincoln’s lead remained 3-0 until the bottom of the ninth. Facing Saltdogs reliever Dutch Landis, Kane County’s Robbie Martin, Jr. led off the inning by hitting a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for a home run, making the score 3-1. The next batter, Claudio Finol singled. Two batters later, Trenden Craig singled. After a flyout for the second out of the inning, Kane County’s Todd Lott extended the game by getting hit by a pitch. Then, Oscar Santos hit a Landis 0-1 pitch right back up the middle, scoring Finol and Craig, to tie the game at 3-3. Landis got out of the inning by forcing Nick Dalesandro to ground out to third, forcing extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, with Rolando Espinosa pinch running for Yusniel Diaz at second base, as the placed runner, Spencer Henson grounded to short. Espinosa tried to advance but was thrown out at third for the first out of the inning. Then, Neyfy Castillo hit into a ground out double play to end the inning.
Kane County began the bottom of the tenth with Nick Dalesandro as the placed runner at second. Lincoln reliever Matt Mullenbach uncorked a wild pitch and Dalesandro advanced to third. The next batter, Josh Allen, flew out to shallow right field for the first out. Then, with the infield pulled in, Robbie Martin, Jr., grounded out to short, for the second out of the inning. Mullenbach got out of the jam by getting Claudio Finol to fly out to center field for the final out, forcing the game to go to the eleventh inning.
Lincoln’s Neyfy Castillo was the placed runner at second. Facing Kane County reliever Jake Stevenson, Connor Denning struck out swinging for the first out. Then, Jack Dragum pinch-hit for Parker Stroh and drew a base on balls, to put runners at first and second. The next batter, Danny Bautista, Jr., fouled out down the right field line for the second out. Then, Drew DeVine hit a Stevenson 3-1 pitch deep, into the right center field gap, for a two-RBI triple, scoring Castillo and Dragum, to put Lincoln ahead, 5-3. The next batter, Brody Fahr, grounded out to short, to end the inning.
Kane County threatened again in the bottom of the eleventh. Claudio Finol was the placed runner at second. Facing Lincoln reliever, Jacob Roberts, Gali Cribbs, Jr. drew a base on balls. The next batter, Trenden Craig, hit a soft, ground ball to short, which forced out Cribb, Jr at second, for the first out. With runners at the corners, Armond Upshaw was hit by a pitch, to load the bases. Lincoln went to the bullpen and brought in Franny Cobos. With the game on the line, Cobos got Todd Lott to pop up to second base for the second out. Then, on a 3-2 count, Cobos got Oscar Santos to strikeout looking, to end the game.
Saltdogs starting pitcher Johnny Blake pitched 6.0 innings, giving up no runs off two hits, struck out seven and walked four. Dylan Beck pitched 1.0 inning, as did Connor Langrell. Dutch Landis pitched 1.0 inning, giving up three runs off three hits. Matt Mullenbach (1-1) earned the win, in relief, pitching 1.0 inning, with no runs off no hits. Jacob Roberts pitched 0.1 inning and walked one. Franny Cobos (1) earned the save, pitching 0.2 inning, with one strikeout.
Cougars’ starting pitcher Jack Fox pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three runs off six hits, struck out five and walked one. Jordan Martinson pitched 1.0 inning, yielding one hit, struck out three and walked two. Logan Nissen pitched 1.0 inning, struck out one and walked one. Casey Crosby pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one hit with one strike out. Jake Stevenson (0-2) took the loss. He pitched 1.0 inning, gave up two runs, one earned, off one hit, struck out one and walked one.
Offensively for Lincoln, Danny Bautista, Jr. was 1-for- 5 with an RBI. Drew DeVine was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs. Brody Fahr was 2-for-4. Neyfy Castillo was 1-for-5 and drove in one run. Connor Denning went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
For Kane County, Trendon Craig was 2-for-6. Oscar Santos went 1-for-5 with two RBI’s. Robbie Martin, Jr. was 1-for-5 with a solo home run.
Lincoln is now 2-and-1 in extra-inning games this season and earned the win in Saturday night’s marathon game that lasted three hours and thirty-five minutes in front of 8,191 fans.
The rubber game of the three-game series is Sunday afternoon, with first pitch at 1:00 p.m., at Northwestern Medicine Field. RHP Nate Blain (2-1, 1.90 ERA) will pitch for Lincoln, while RHP Vin Timpanelli (1-2, 5.68 ERA) will throw for Kane County. The game will be broadcast on KFOR 101.5 FM/1240 AM and online at: www.kfornow.com. Live video of the game will stream at: www.aabaseball.tv.
The next home game for the Saltdogs will be Friday, June 6th, when Lincoln hosts the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Haymarket Park. First pitch will be 7:05 p.m. The game will be “Free Shirt Friday”, sponsored by Abante Marketing. Also, it will be “Saltdogs Sling Bag giveaway”, sponsored by Assurity. In addition, it will be the Lincoln Libraries Summer Reading Program Kick-off, plus, there will be post-game fireworks. For tickets, merchandise, and promotional information, go to: www.saltdogs.com.