Peoria, IL – Despite grabbing an early lead, the Chiefs couldn’t overcome an eight-run third inning and fell 12-7 to Wisconsin on Friday night at Dozer Park.
After delivering a walk-off single on Thursday night, Jalin Flores propelled Peoria in front in the first inning, smoking a three-run homer to open up a 3-0 lead.
On the other side of the book, Nate Dohm got off to a smooth start, retiring the first six Timber Rattlers of the contest.
The complexion of the game changed in the third inning, as Wisconsin rallied for eight runs, using four hits and seven walks. The first nine Timber Rattlers reached to start the inning, and the first out came on a Juan Baez sacrifice fly, which pushed the lead to 7-3. A bases loaded walk capped the scoring in the inning to make it 8-3.
The Chiefs punched back in the bottom half, as Josh Kross delivered an RBI single and José Suárez brought in a run via an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 8-5.
Peoria never got closer, as Wisconsin added four more runs in the top of the fourth, highlighted by two-RBI knocks by Juan Baez and Luiyin Alastre, boosting their advantage to 12-5.
Sammy Hernandez hit a solo home run in the sixth for his first of the year, and Jesús Báez poked a sac fly in the ninth to round out the Chiefs’ scoring.
After the four-run fourth, Nolan Sparks didn’t allow another run across his remaining 2.2 innings of work. Christian Worley followed with 2.1 scoreless frames to wrap the game for Peoria’s relief unit.
The series continues Saturday evening at 6:35 pm from Dozer Park. The Chiefs will recognize Armed Services Day at the park by offering free admission to servicemembers and veterans. Additionally, the first 1,000 fans will receive a Peoria Chiefs flag. Tickets are available online at Peoria Chiefs.com.