The Kane County Cougars jumped on the Gary SouthShore RailCats early and held on for a 5-2 win Tuesday night at the Steel Yard.
Kane County opened the scoring with a run in the first and added two more in the third. A two-run fifth highlighted by RBI hits from Todd Lott and Nick Dalesandro pushed the Cougars ahead 5-1 and chased RailCats starter Andres Diaz.
Diaz allowed five earned runs on nine hits over five innings. Despite the loss from Diaz, the right-hander recorded a season high seven strikeouts.
Jake Guenther provided a spark for Gary SouthShore with a solo homer in the third and finished 3-for-4 on the night. The RailCats added another in the fourth when LG Castillo knocked in Elvis Peralta.
However, the RailCats left nine men on base and went hitless over the final three innings.
Cougars starter Konnor Ash scattered seven hits and struck out five over 5.1 innings. Kane County's three relievers combined for 3.2 scoreless innings. Jake Gozzo nailed down the save with a clean ninth.
Peralta stole his 18th base of the season, and also drew two walks.
The RailCats (10-30) will look to bounce back in game two of the series Wednesday at the Steel Yard. First pitch is set for 12:00 pm C.T. for the first Youth and Senior Day of the 2025 season!