July 17 game notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers beat the South Bend Silver Hawks 4-1. Edward Paredes allowed one run over eight innings for the win. Joe Dunigan drove in three runs to pace the 11-hit attack of the Wisconsin offense.

STREAK’S END: The Rattlers ended a six game home losing streak with the victory over the Hawks last night.

STREAK’S END II: Paredes ended a personal six game losing streak with his performance last night. Paredes gave up three hits, walked one, and struck out six for his first win since May 21 at Cedar Rapids.

MATCHING EIGHTS: Paredes equaled his previous high for innings pitched in a game with his eight frames last night. The other time Paredes worked eight innings in a game was in that win at Cedar Rapids on May 21.

MOWING THEM DOWN: Sean Coughlin singled in a run with a one-out single off Paredes in the top of the fourth inning to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 3-1. Paredes retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced. The only Silver Hawk to reach over the final 4-2/3 innings of Paredes’ outing was Jo Jo Baten, who got aboard on a leadoff bunt single in the top of the sixth. After that, Paredes retired the final nine batters he saw.

THE NINE: All nine Timber Rattler batters collected at least one hit in last night’s game.

POP THE CLUTCH: All three of Dunigan’s RBI came with two outs in an inning. His two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the first inning off South Bend starting pitcher Dallas Buck gave the Rattlers a 2-0 lead. Dunigan delivered a two-out, RBI double in the fifth inning to give Wisconsin a 4-1 lead.

DUNIGAN, BEGIN AGAIN: Dunigan started the second half of the season with an 0-for-27 slump that contributed to him hitting just .112 (11-for-98) with no homers and four RBI over 25 games in June. Since the calendar flipped over to July, Dunigan is hitting .311 (14-for-45) with five home runs and 13 RBI in 11 games.

A PAIR: Israel Nunez had two hits last night, too. That marked his third multi-hit game of the season and first since he had three hits in a game at Cedar Rapids on June 26.

SAVING THE DAY: Jeff Dunbar pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his first Midwest League save. Dunbar, who had three saves at Pulaski in the Appalachian League before joining the Rattlers last week, got three ground ball outs to end last night’s game.

GOING FOR IT: The Rattlers have not won two games in a row since beating Burlington on June 22nd at home and Cedar Rapids on June 23rd on the road.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The South Bend Silver Hawks are Midwest League affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They finished the first half with a record of 33-36 and missed the playoffs in the Eastern Division. The Silver Hawks are currently 15-11 and hold the top playoff spot in the East by one game over the Dayton Dragons. South Bend has a record of 24-21 on the road this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .238 as a team and have scored 333 runs (3.7/game). Wisconsin has hit 34 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.90. South Bend is hitting .248 as a team and has scored 416 runs (4.4/game). The Hawks have hit 47 home runs this season. The South Bend pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.70.

2008 SEASON SERIES: South Bend leads the season series 3-1. The Silver Hawks swept a three game series at Coveleski Regional Stadium April 21-23. South Bend won game one 5-4; game two 8-4; and game three 10-2.

SOUTH BEND STARTING PITCHER: RH Josh Collmenter was the 15th round pick of the Diamondbacks in the 2007 draft out of Central Michigan University. Last season, Collmenter pitched for Yakima in the Northwest League and went 6-3 with a 2.71ERA in 14 games (12 starts). He led the Northwest League in ERA last season. The Quad Cities River Bandits beat Collmenter in his start for the Silver Hawks prior to this evening. He allowed three runs on seven hits over 5-2/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Tonight is Collmenter’s first appearance against the Timber Rattlers. Collmenter made one start against the Everett AquaSox, the Northwest League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, in 2007. He picked up the win as he allowed one run on eight hits over seven innings with no walks and four strikeouts on August 11. The only Everett run off Collmenter in that game was a solo home run by Joe Dunigan in the third inning.