Beloit drops fifth straight to South Bend in controversial fashion

SOUTH BEND, IN - In a roller coaster series finale, the Sky Carp fell to the South Bend Cubs 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Four Winds Field – the team’s fifth straight loss after winning the series opener.

Beloit fell behind early, as starter Luis Palacios allowed a solo homer to Fabian Pertuz in the first and Casey Opitz in the second.

From there on out, it became a pitcher’s duel, as Daniel Palencia worked four shutout innings with eight strikeouts, and Palacios tossed up zeros on the line score in the third and fourth.

In the fifth, the Sky Carp threatened against Cubs’ reliever Gabriel Jaramillo and loaded the bases with no outs for Cody Morissette.

On the 2-2 pitch, Jaramillo hit Morissette with the pitch, which brought Federico Polanco home from third. However, home plate umpire Kyle Stutz shockingly ruled that Polanco didn’t touch home plate and called him out.

After Kyler Castillo fouled off the first pitch of the following at bat, Beloit manager Jorge Hernandez was ejected for the first time this season.

With the bases still loaded, Castillo popped a pitch to foul territory down the right field line. Opitz, the South Bend first baseman, made a basket catch, and Harrison Spohn tagged up from third base to try to score.

Opitz fired a strike to home plate, but it appeared Spohn beat the tag by a wide margin. Once again, Stutz made a controversial call and ruled Spohn out, drawing the ire of the entire Beloit dugout.

Instead of the game being tied at two, it remained 2-0.

In the top of the sixth, Dalvy Rosario delivered a game-tying, 2-run homer to deep left field – his second homer of the series.

The tie didn’t last long, though, as Opitz hooked his second homer of the day down the left field line for a go-ahead, 2-run shot in the bottom of the sixth.

The Sky Carp attempted to battle back and loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with one out. Polanco drove in a run on a fielders choice to bring the lead down to 4-3, but Cubs’ righty Michael McAvene escaped the jam by striking out Jan Mercado.

Beloit went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth to close the series with a third consecutive 4-3 defeat.

South Bend now holds a five game lead on Beloit in the second half standings with 19 games remaining on the campaign.

The Sky Carp will have the opportunity to bounce back as they open a 12-game homestand on Tuesday, starting with a six-game series with the Peoria Chiefs. Tickets are available now on SkyCarp.com.