Chiefs Fall To South Bend 3-2

     The Peoria Chiefs left 10 runners on base, including a runner in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings in their 3-2 loss to the South Bend Silver Hawks Thursday night. The loss snapped the Chiefs three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 51-42 overall and 13-13 in the second half.

     The Silver Hawks jumped out to an early lead with a run in the first inning off Ben O'Shea, who was making his Chiefs debut. Fidel Pena led off the game with a double, and came around to score on a two-bagger by Brandon Drury to give South Bend a 1-0 lead.

    Peoria responded with a run of their own in the second inning with an unearned run off Blake Perry. Patrick Wisdom reached on an error to start the inning, and Breyvic Valera moved him to second with a 4-3 ground out. Nick Martini drove him in with an RBI single to right field, tying the game at 1-1.

     South Bend grabbed the lead right back with a run in the fourth inning. Michael Perez and Roidany Aguila led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Alex Glenn was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Andrew Velazquez drove in Perez with a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Silver Hawks a 2-1 lead. O'Shea got out of the inning by forcing Pena into a fly out and Breland Almadova into a ground out.

     The Chiefs scored a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game. Jordan Walton reached on a leadoff walk and was driven in by a Breyvic Valera RBI double making the score 2-2.
     Peoria had a chance to extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out Charlie Tilson singled and stole second. Jacob Wilson walked and a Walton fly out to right field moved Tilson to third. Wilson stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Wisdom struck out to end the Chiefs threat and preserve the 2-2 tie.

     After threatening to score in the seventh inning, the Silver Hawks made the Chiefs pay in the eighth. Aguila doubled to lead off the inning, and was replaced by pinch runner Michael Lang. Lang moved to third on a Sam Tuivailala wild pitch and after two strikeouts, he scored on a Pena triple to put South Bend up 3-2.

     The Chiefs almost tied the game in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, but could not push across a run. With two outs in the eighth Wisdom singled and moved to third on a Valera base-knock. With runners at the corners Nick Martini flew out to center field to end the threat. The Chiefs put two runners on with one out in the ninth, but a strike out and a ground out ended their comeback bid.

     O'Shea pitched four innings giving up two runs on six hits and no walks. Dixon Llorens gave up two hits and no runs while fanning five in two innings. Tuivailala (0-3) tossed 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts in the loss. Michael Aldrete pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings giving up not hits and one walk with one strikeout.