GRAND CHUTE, WI – Luke Adams cracked his second grand slam home run of the season for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to send the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to a 9-0 victory over the Beloit Sky Carp on Thursday night in front of 4,936 fans at Neuroscience Group Field.
Jadher Areinamo wasted no time in doing two things: Extending his hitting streak to seventeen games and giving the Timber Rattlers (50-29 overall, 8-5 second half) a lead. Areinamo crushed the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning from Karson Milbrandt for a solo home run to left. Areinamo has seven homers this season and is tied for the longest hitting streak in the Midwest League this season.
Wisconsin added to their lead in the third inning. A walk and two singles loaded the bases for Luke Adams. Then, Adams unloaded on a pitch from Karson Milbrandt. The Wisconsin slugger lined a 1-0 pitch into the Left Field Lofts for his second grand slam of the season and a 5-0 lead. Adams is the team-leader in home runs for the Rattlers with eight.
The Timber Rattlers poured on the offense with three more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Eduarqui Fernández and a two-run single by Luis Lara.
Beloit (35-41 5-8) had a threat against Fitzpatrick in the top of the fifth inning. The Wisconsin lefty struck out the first two batters he faced before issuing a walk and giving up a pair of singles to load the bases. Fitzpatrick got out of the inning on a fly out to give him five scoreless innings.
Fitzpatrick set a new single-game high as a professional for strikeouts with seven. He walked one and allowed three hits to set himself up for his third win of the season.
Wisconsin added one more run in the bottom of the fifth when Adams, who had walked earlier in the inning, scored from third on a balk.
Bayden Root took over for Fitzpatrick in the top of the sixth inning and gave up consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with no outs. Root kept the shutout alive with a strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play. He would add a scoreless seventh inning.
Tyler Wehrle got the final six outs for the Timber Rattlers to make it two straight shutouts over their in-state rivals. Wisconsin beat Beloit 2-0 at ABC Supply Stadium on Wednesday night.
Adams is the first Timber Rattler to hit two grand slams in one season since Will Clarke hit two during the 2022 season.
The Rattlers are 21 games over .500 for the first time this season. This is the first time Wisconsin has been 21 games over .500 since they were 55-34 after a 5-3 win at Lake County on July 12, 2012.
Game two of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Will Rudy (2-5, 5.34) is set to start for the Timber Rattlers. Thomas White (0-2, 2.37) has been named as the starter for the Sky Carp. Game time is 6:40pm CDT.
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