(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) FORT WAYNE, IN – FORT WAYNE, IN – Not even a 79-minute rain delay prior to the start of Friday night’s game at Parkview Field could cool down the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Wisconsin defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps 11-3 with an 11-hit attack that featured Andrew Fischer’s third home run in the last two games. The win was Wisconsin’s fourth straight.
Wisconsin (12-5) got on the board first. Josh Adamczewski walked and Marco Dinges singled. Fischer, who cracked two homers on Thursday, hit a home run to left for the 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth.
That home run was the 22nd in April for the Timber Rattlers.
Fort Wayne (6-13) answered in the bottom of the fourth. Alex McCoy moved his hitting streak to fifteen games with a two-run home run.
Dinges delivered a two-out, RBI double in the top of the fifth and the Rattlers margin was two runs.
Adamczewski added an RBI single in the sixth for a 5-2 lead.
Bryce Meccage, the Rattlers starting pitcher settled in after the homer by McCoy to retire the final five batters he faced. Meccage went five innings, walked two, and struck out five. He became the fourth straight Wisconsin starting pitcher to go five innings and earn the win in the series at Fort Wayne.
The Timber Rattlers put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh by scoring six runs on six hits. Luis Castillo drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI double. Adamczewski and Josiah Ragsdale added RBI singles before Tayden Hall drove in three runs with a double for an 11-2 lead.
The TinCaps got a run in the bottom of the eighth but never threatened to get back into the game as the Rattlers closed out a series-clinching win.
Fischer had two hits in the game as he moved his hitting streak to seven games. Dinges had three hits, Adamczewski had two hits and two RBI, and Ragsdale also had two hits in the game.
In the first four games of the six-game series, the Rattlers have outscored the TinCaps 37-15. Wisconsin is 42-for-132 (.318) with seven homers and a team OPS of .997 on offense. Wisconsin pitchers have struck out 36 TinCaps in the series.
Game five of the series is Saturday afternoon at Parkview Field. Braylon Owens (1-0, 6.10) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattler. Jamie Hitt (0-1, 8.53) is set to start for the TinCaps. Game time is 12:05pm CDT.
