BELOIT, WISCONSIN (June 21, 2019) — Ross Adolph pounded three extra-base hits and nearly hit for the cycle as the Quad Cities River Bandits opened the second half of their season with a 7-2 victory over the Beloit Snappers on Thursday night. Adolph finished 4-5 with two doubles, a home run, and two runs batted in.
Adolph’s big night began in the third inning when he gave the River Bandits (1-0, 44-23) their first lead of the ballgame. Michael Wielansky opened the inning with a double, and the center-fielder quickly traded places with Wielansky by lining a double of his own, establishing a 2-1 lead in the process. Oscar Campos drove in Adolph from third base later in the frame with a hard groundball to the right side that made it 3-1.
Adolph’s sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to open the fifth inning, widened the gap to 4-1. In the next frame, David Hensley used the long ball to push the lead to 6-1. His line-drive over the left-field wall immediately followed a single from Jonathan Lacroix. It was Hensley’s fifth home run of the campaign.
The final run for Quad Cities came across the plate in the eighth. Hensley reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Freudis Nova chopper to third.
Adolph nearly became the first River Bandits player since 2014 to hit for the cycle. In his final at-bat, he hit a line-drive that caromed off of the wall in left-center field. He raced around second base trying to etch his name in team history, but the relay throw beat him by a number of steps and he was tagged out at third for the first out of the inning.
River Bandits starter Cody Deason allowed his only run in the bottom of the first inning. He allowed singles to the first three batters of the frame, but ended up leaving the bases loaded to prevent further damage. After facing seven batters in the opening stanza, he never faced more than four in one inning the rest of the way to earn the win.
Beloit (0-1, 27-42) briefly made things interesting in the ninth. Yeremi Ceballos walked three consecutive hitters with one out in the inning to load the bases. Devin Conn entered from the bullpen and distinguished the rally by allowing a sacrifice fly to Cobie Vance and getting Joseph Pena to fly to right for the final out.
The River Bandits collected seven extra-base hits in the contest. Hensley and Lacroix joined Adolph with multiple hits. Alex McKenna had his eight-game hit streak come to an end. The Snappers finished with just five hits and no player provided more than one.
The River Bandits and Snappers continue their series with game two on Friday night at 6:30PM. RHP RJ Freure (4-1, 3.75) will toe the rubber for the River Bandits against RHP Joe DeMers (0-1, 5.26) of Beloit.
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 7-9-0
Beloit (R-H-E): 2-5-0
Win: Deason (4-3)
Loss: Birlingmair (0-1)
Save: None
HR: Quad Cities: Ross Adolph (6, 5th inning, 0 on base), David Hensley (5, 6th inning, 1 on base)
HR: Beloit: None
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
