Craig Italiano, Branden Dewing Combine for No-Hitter as Kane County Cougars Sweep Burlington Bees 1-0, 3-0

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - GENEVA , IL – Craig Italiano and Branden Dewing combined for the sixth no-hitter in Kane County Cougars history on Wednesday night in Game 2 of a double-header against the Burlington Bees in front of 1,559 fans at Elfstrom Stadium. The near-perfection in the 3-0 win capped off back-to-back shutouts for Cougars pitchers after a 1-0, 10-inning triumph in Game 1.

Italiano (1-0), making his first start at Elfstrom Stadium since he suffered a serious head injury in a game last May, retired the first 16 batters of the game, including seven consecutive strikeouts at one point. His only blemish -- and the only one in the game -- came when he hit Antonio Jimenez with a pitch with one out in the sixth. Italiano recovered to fan the next batter, setting a new professional career-high for strikeouts with nine. Dewing got the final out of the sixth and worked a perfect seventh to complete the no-no, the Cougars' first since May 2006.


ADVERTISEMENT Christian Vitters accounted for all of the run production for the offense, poking a sacrifice fly off Eduardo Paulino (0-2) in the second inning and knocking a two-run double in the fourth to make it 3-0.

In Game 1, which was supposed to last seven innings, Jake Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th to bring in Jonathan Johnston for the 1-0 finish. Starter Scott Hodsdon and relievers Brad Hertzler, Chris Farley and Scott Moore (1-0) combined for the shutout in that contest, and the Cougars' pitching staff now has tossed 19 1/3 consecutive innings without yielding a run.

The Cougars (7-0) go for another four-game sweep Thursday at noon CT when they play the finale against the Bees (2-5). Travis Banwart (1-0) will pitch against Joe Augustine (0-0).

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