DAVENPORT, IOWA (August 24, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits took advantage of a five-run outburst in the fifth inning to run away with an 8-2 win over the Kane County Cougars in front of 6,049 fans on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Austin Dennis, Trey Dawson, and CJ Stubbs each drove in two runs to spark the offense.
The fifth inning began with the game tied 2-2. After AJ Lee’s line-drive to center-field was caught to open the inning, the next six hitters all reached base. Freudis Nova lined a single up the middle and then was advanced to third on Wilyer Abreu’s double into the gap. The River Bandits took their first lead of the night when Dennis drove in Nova with a base-hit. Andy Toelken then walked Grae Kessinger to load the bases before Dawson lined a two-run single right back through the middle of the infield for a 5-2 advantage. The next hitter, Stubbs, hammered a double off the wall in right-field to plate two more and make it 7-2. Infielder Joey Rose recorded the final two outs of the inning on the mound by inducing a pair of ground-balls.
In the sixth, the River Bandits (34-27, 77-50) added one more run to their lead. Nova coaxed a walk off of Kai-Wei Lin with one out and advanced to third once again on a single from Abreu. Dennis took advantage with a sacrifice-fly that opened an 8-2 advantage.
Armed with a six-run advantage, the River Bandits bullpen took care of business down the stretch. Felipe Tejada and Luis De Paula combined to toss 4.0 scoreless innings in relief of starter Jonathan Bermudez. Tejada did not allow a hit, but walked five batters in the game. De Paula surrendered two hits while striking out four. Bermudez collected the win by working the first 5.0 innings and was charged with two runs on five hits.
Kane County (38-23, 71-56) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Zach Shannon hooked a double into the left-field corner with two on and two outs in the frame to hand the Cougars the early head-start. However, Quad Cities managed to even the score in the fourth. Dennis legged out a triple to open the frame and Kessinger drove him in with a line-drive single to left. With one down and men on first and second, Alex Holderbach hit a bouncer to third that turned into an out at second base, but the relay to first for an attempted double-play was thrown away. The error allowed Kessinger to cross the plate and the score was evened.
Seven different hitters contributed to the River Bandits ten hit attack. Dominic Fletcher was the only member of the Kane County lineup to register multiple hits.
The series will resume on Sunday night with a 5:15PM first pitch. RHP Matt Ruppenthal (5-6, 4.15) will start on the mound for the River Bandits against Kane County RHP Adrian Del Moral (2-3, 3.61). Fans can bring their dogs to the park on another Bark in the Park day while players will be available for autographs on the field before the game. After the game, kids will have the opportunity to run the bases.
Kane County (R-H-E): 2-7-1
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 8-10-0
Win: Bermudez (5-1)
Loss: Toelken (6-3)
Save:
HR: Kane County: None
HR: Quad Cities: None
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
