Snappers avoid series sweep, beat Kernels 6-4

The Beloit Snappers capitalized off two inning-extending errors en route to their 6-4 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Sunday afternoon.

Four of Beloit's six runs were unearned as two defensive miscues from the Kernels tilted the game in the Snappers' favor.

The Kernels made a late rally in the eighth inning, cutting Beloit's lead to one, but Sam Bragg shut the door on any potential comeback with 1.2 innings of solid relief to record the save.

Beloit avoided the series sweep with the victory and snapped a five-game winning streak for the Kernels.

Matt Stalcup (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) picked up the win for Beloit, while Stephen Gonsalves (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) recorded the loss for the Kernels.

For the third straight game, the Snappers scored the first run of the ballgame, as they took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Michael Soto recorded his first hit since rejoining the Snappers from Arizona rookie league, a timely RBI-double to score Luis Baez. Soto finished the night 3-for-4 with two RBI's, after going 0-for-4 in his first two games back in Beloit.

The Kernels didn't wait long to answer offensively as they tied the game in the following frame with a Logan Wade solo shot home run. The home run was Wade's fifth of the season and third in the past ten games.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Snappers appeared to be heading to a routine frame until an error by right fielder Alex Swim extended the inning. With two outs, Chih-Fang Pan hit a deep ball to right field that Swim struggled to see in the sun and dropped, allowing Pan to reach third base and Tyler Marincov to score from first.

Michael Soto and Justin Higley capitalized on the extended inning as they each hit RBI's in consecutive at-bats to give Beloit a 4-1 lead.

The Snappers took advantage of another inning-extending error in the 6th inning to take a 5-1 lead. With two outs, shortstop Engelb Vielma threw the ball in the dirt to first base, allowing Soto to reach first base and Pohl to advance to third base. In the next at-bat, Pohl crossed the plate off a wild pitch from Hudson Boyd.

Cedar Rapids made a late rally in the 8th inning as it tallied three runs to cut Beloit's lead to 5-4. After back-to-back RBI's from Max Murphy and Michael Quesada, Sam Bragg came on to replace Hunter Adkins (2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER) on the mound. Bragg limited the damage and preserved Beloit's lead as he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

After a Branden Cogswell RBI in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bragg retired the first three batters in the top of the ninth to secure the 6-4 victory.

The Snappers begin a three-game series at Clinton Monday.