GRAND CHUTE, WI – Wisconsin used four home runs across two games to sweep the Chiefs in a series opening doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field, 7-3 in game one and 6-5 in game two.
With the pair of losses, Peoria (3-8) has dropped five in a row.
Cardinals No. 3 prospect Rainiel Rodriguez finished the twin bill with four extra base hits: three doubles in game one and an RBI triple in game two.
In game one, Wisconsin scored two runs in each of the first three innings to open a 6-0 advantage.
The Chiefs punched back in the top of the fourth inning, loading the bases for Jose Suarez with one out. Suarez unloaded the bases, slicing a bases-clearing, three-RBI double into the right field corner to cut the deficit to 6-3.
That’s as close as Peoria would get, though, as the Timber Rattlers got one of those runs back on a Daniel Dickinson RBI single in the bottom of the inning to grow the lead to 7-3.
Rodriguez picked up his third double of the game to open the top of the seventh but was left stranded to end the game.
In game two, Peoria struck first. After a Won-Bin Cho hit by pitch opened the contest, Rodriguez shot an RBI triple into the right-center field alley to make it 1-0. He later scored on a Jalin Flores RBI groundout.
The Chiefs lead swelled to 4-0 thanks to a Sammy Hernandez RBI in the top of the second and Suárez solo home run in the top of the third.
Meanwhile, starter Tanner Franklin got off to a hot start on the mound, allowing one run through four innings while striking out six.
For the first time as a pro, Franklin pitched into the fifth, but Wisconsin struck for three runs. After a hit by pitch and a dropped fly ball, Josiah Ragsdale hit a three-run, game-tying home run to right, knotting the contest at four.
Peoria snatched the lead back in the top of the sixth, as Jose Cordoba delivered a two-out RBI single to score Suárez from second, making it 5-4 Chiefs.
The lead was short lived, as the Timber Rattlers played longball to take the lead for good in the sixth. Marco Dinges homered to left field with one out to tie the game, and Josh Adamczewski made it back-to-back with a lined shot to right center to put Wisconsin ahead 6-5.
Hernandez walked to open the top of the seventh, but the Chiefs couldn’t advance him to extend the game.
The series continues Thursday evening at 6:40 pm, with Leonel Sequera set to start on the mound for the Chiefs.
Peoria returns home for a six-game series with Cedar Rapids beginning on Tuesday, April 21 at Dozer Park. Tickets for all six games are available online at PeoriaChiefs.com.
