dupagehounds.com

Bill Chandler walked off with a two-out, two-run single as the Joliet Admirals finally pulled one out over the DuPage County Hounds, winning 4-3 at Wayne King Field.

With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9^th, Nick Alfini came on to close it out. Joey Anderson reached on a one-out error by Stewart Nelson at second base, and Chip Bouchard doubled with two outs two batters later. Kwynn Rury drew a walk to load the bases, bringing up Chandler. Chandler jumped on Alfini’s 2-1 fastball and lined it down the left field line. Both runs scored and Chandler’s teammates met him halfway to second base, mobbing him after the walk-off.

In a back-and-forth game, DuPage County (25-13) took their first lead in the top of the 8^th. Down 2-1, Trent Carrier hit a groundball that split the Joliet third baseman and shortstop, scoring two runs to make it 3-2.

Joliet (9-29) struck first in the bottom of the 1^st, putting men on second and third with two outs against starter Josh Davis. Davis then walked Rury and walked Chandler to force in a run.

The Hounds tied it in the 6^th on Drew LaComb’s RBI double, but could’ve scored more. Two of their three outs came on the basepaths. The Admirals quickly retook the lead on Jermaine Terry’s RBI single in the bottom of the 6^th.

Admiral starter Tomas Aguilar cruised for the first five innings, not allowing his first hit until the 6^th. Agular finished his outing with three runs on six hits in 7.2 innings, walking three and striking out two on 102 pitches.

Ryan Hinchley walked four in his 1.2 scoreless innings for DuPage. Eric Littler, who earned the W for Joliet, scattered three singles across the end of the 8^th and 9^th.

The loss is DuPage’s first against the Midwest Collegiate League’s bottom two teams; the Hounds are now 14-1 against the Admirals and Chicago Zephyrs. The defeat also drops the Hounds into a first-place tie with Southland for the MCL lead. At press time, Southland leads Northwest Indiana 1-0. A Viking win would knock DuPage County out of first place for the first time all season.

The Hounds close up the regular season with two home games this weekend. The Zephyrs come into the Dog Pound on Friday night, while the Admirals come back on Sunday night. Both games will be streamed live on dupagehounds.com.