by Michael Dixon, Lincoln Saltdogs

GENEVA, Illinois – Randy Norris went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, but the ‘Dogs allowed two 9^th-inning runs and lost 6-5 to the Kane County Cougars on Wednesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.

BOX SCORE

Norris drove in two runs with a two-out single in the 2^nd, and Lincoln (41-48) got within one run after Jimmy Kerrigan’s three-run homer gave Kane County (46-43) a 3-0 lead in the 1^st inning.

Kane County added to the lead with Nick Franklin’s sacrifice fly in the 6^th, but Lincoln rallied in the 8^th. Skyler Weber’s RBI fielder’s choice made it 4-3, Justin Byrd tied the game with an RBI single and Rayder Ascanio’s squeeze bunt gave the ‘Dogs a 5-4 lead.

Up by one, the ‘Dogs used Steffon Moore in the 9^th inning. After allowed two hits to begin the inning, Galli Cribbs Jr. laid down a sacrifice bunt. Ernie De La Trinidad walked to load the bases before back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Sherman Johnson and Cornelius Randolph handed Lincoln its first loss when leading after eight innings this year.

Garett Delano pitched six innings and allowed four runs. Carson Lance and Matt Cronin combined to pitch a scoreless 7^th and 8^th innings, while Steffon Moore blew his first save of 2022.

The ‘Dogs and Cougars wrap up the series on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and pregame coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN Lincoln 101.5 FM/1480 AM.

The Saltdogs are playing their 21^st season in Lincoln! Visit saltdogs.com and follow us @saltdogsball on all social media for information regarding tickets and promotions all season long.