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It took the Hounds’ offense some time to get things started in today’s early matchup against the Joliet Admirals, but once the bats came alive, the Hounds pulled away in the end for their fourth straight victory.

Today’s first pitch was thrown around 11:00 AM, the earliest start for the Hounds (12-3) this season, and from the beginning, it appeared to be a pitching duel. Matt Frawley got the start on the bump today for the Hounds, and he was battling against Quinn Ahern of the Admirals (3-10) early on.

After three innings of work, both Frawley and Ahern were shutting down the opposing offenses.  Ahern, who recorded four strikeouts through three frames, competed against Frawley, who was able to punch out five Admiral hitters through three innings of work.

The 0-0 tie was broken up in the fourth inning when the Admirals got to Frawley and got things going offensively. After leading off the inning with a hit by pitch, Bill Chandler was eventually brought to third after a walk and sacrifice bunt advanced him. In that position, Chandler was able to score after a passed ball by Mike Roberson allowed the Admiral runner to cross home plate and give his team the lead.

The one-run lead for the Admirals was quickly washed away in the sixth inning when Connor Kopach put the momentum on the Hounds’ side with a leadoff double. After a pickoff attempt by Ahern sailed over his shortstop’s glove at second, Kopach advanced to third. Kopach was brought home when Brian Lees singled up the middle.

The Hounds were able to get to Ahern again in the seventh inning when back-to-back doubles by Adam Wilson and Drew Sterioti started the inning off. When Sterioti drove Wilson home, the Hounds took a 2-1 lead and would not look back from there.

With the bases loaded later on in the inning, leadoff hitter Alex Cain hit a sacrifice fly to center that would score Sterioti and allow the Hounds to widen their lead to two runs.

From there, the Hounds’ pitching continued to dominate. Frawley, who would go seven innings, while striking out eight and only allowing three hits and an earned run, paved the way to victory. After his quality start, Bellinger replaced Frawley in the eighth inning and closed things out from there. Bellinger went two innings, giving up an unearned run, while striking out three.

The big star for the Hounds today was Adam Wilson. Wilson went 4-4 as the designated hitter, and apart from scoring the go-ahead run for the Hounds, he had an RBI single in the eighth that scored Emerson Misch.  The Hounds would go on to score another run in the eighth inning and take a 5-1 lead into the ninth, where Bellinger took care of business and brought the Hounds to a 5-2 victory over the Admirals. 

The win today for the Hounds puts them at 12 victories through 15 tries this season. They lead the MCL and will finish off their doubleheader tonight at 7 PM against the Chicago Zephyrs. The game will be played at Benedictine University.