Wausau, Wis. \u2013 The momentum couldn\u2019t continue for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (1-3) on Thursday night, as they lost 12-3 in the second game of a home-and-home series with the Wausau Woodchucks (2-2). The Rafters grabbed the lead early but fell silent after that as a dominant pitching night from Woodchucks\u2019 Carter White (1-0) saw him go five scoreless innings. The Rafters watched Tristin Crusenberry go two innings with one earned run while Jafet Martinez had two perfect frames, but their contributions weren\u2019t enough to keep it close.<\/p>\n
The Rafters grabbed the lead at the start, scoring three times in the top of the first, starting with an RBI single from Hiroto Kobayashi before Ashton Zacher scored on an error and Luke Skinner picked up an RBI single off Woodchucks\u2019 starter Everett Swaim, giving Rapids a 3-0 advantage.<\/p>\n
It was a shutout bottom of the first for Rafters starter Alejandro Morales, but he was hit hard in the second, allowing four runs to the Woodchucks. It started when Wausau\u2019s Ryan Pruitt drew a walk with the bases loaded and Josh McClintock followed doing the same. Woodchucks\u2019 Charlie Longmeier then picked up a sac fly and Dylan Scholtterback followed up scoring on a throw down to second, putting Wausau up 4-3.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin Rapids\u2019 Crusenberry relieved Morales after two innings, and in the bottom of the third, Dylan Schlotterback came all the way around the bases himself and scored on a throwing error from behind the plate, extending the lead to 5-3.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Woodchucks added one run in the bottom of the fourth, this time on an RBI grounder from Josh McClintock off Rafters\u2019 Crusenberry, adding to a 6-3 advantage.<\/p>\n
After that, Wausau blew the game wide open with a four-run fifth inning as Rafters\u2019 Brent Gallegos relieved Crusenberry. It started with three straight singles before a pair of walks, a fielder\u2019s choice and an error made it 10-3 Woodchucks.<\/p>\n
While the Wausau offense heated up, Woodchucks reliever White was dealing, coming in at the start of the second inning to blank the Rafters over five frames and finishing his night with a three-up, three-down sixth.<\/p>\n
One more run came to score on Wisconsin Rapids\u2019 Gallegos in the bottom of the sixth after an RBI single from Wausau\u2019s Schlotterback, but Gallegos was pulled when he loaded the bases in the 11-3 game. With nobody out, Rafters\u2019 Martinez stranded all three Woodchucks on base thanks to a pair of strikeouts and fly out.<\/p>\n
Martinez kept rolling in the seventh with a perfect frame, but was relieved between innings to keep his pitch count low after going the day before.<\/p>\n
The bottom of the eighth saw a final run scored by the Woodchucks with Wausau\u2019s Jake Weatherspoon picking up an RBI single off Rafters\u2019 reliever Brennan Cohen, but Cohen worked out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing another run.<\/p>\n
Nolan Bernard came into the game for the Woodchucks to pitch the ninth inning and retired the Rafters in order, locking down the 12-3 victory.<\/p>\n
The Rafters dropped to sole possession of fifth in the Great Lakes West after the loss while the Woodchucks rose to third. The two teams next face each other on June 12, when the Rats return to Wausau for the first game of another home-and-home series. Up next, the Woodchucks take on the first-place Green Bay Rockers (3-1) while the Rafters host the Rockford Rivets (3-1). Wisconsin Rapids will look to bounce back with first pitch at 6:35pm Friday from Witter Field. Live coverage of the game will be fully televised on NWL+ with radio commentary on WFHR 97.5 FM\/1320 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wausau, Wis. \u2013 The momentum couldn\u2019t continue for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (1-3) on Thursday night, as they lost 12-3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":17034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n