Snappers Stay Hot, Defeat Cubs 10-3 For Seventh Straight

The offense stayed red hot for the Beloit Snappers (44-43) in their 10-3 victory over the Eastern division rival South Bend Cubs (45-44) Wednesday night at Four Winds Field.

After two scoreless frames to begin the game, the Snappers broke out in the third inning with their first of two four run innings on the night.
Nick Allen, Lazaro Armenteros and Austin Beck all singled to load the bases, before Hunter Hargrove stayed hot and drew a walk to score Allen and it was 1-0.
Jesus Lopez followed up with double to clear the bases. He was gunned out trying to stretch a triple, but his extra running allowed Hargrove the time to come around from first base to score. It was quickly 4-0 and the Snappers were in control.
In the sixth, JaVon Shelby grounded into a force at third that scored Hargrove. Ryan Gridley followed up with an RBI single to score Jordan Devencenzi. Allen stayed hot, lacing a double to left that scored Shelby and Gridley and suddenly, the score was 8-1.
For Allen, it was a career day. He went 4-for-6 in the leadoff spot, his now usual spot in the lineup, and notched his first four hit game of his career. It was also his eighth multi-hit game in his last 18 games.
The Snappers would get two more runs in the seventh and ninth, respectively. Devencenzi singled home Hargrove in the seventh inning and Armenteros' RBI single in the ninth brought home Devencenzi.
Wyatt Marks got his fourth win of the season, going six innings and getting six strikeouts while only allowing two earned runs on four hits and one walk.
On the other side, the Cubs' Ryan Lawlor was making his first start of the season for South Bend. He earned the loss in five complete innings, giving up four earned runs and registering two strikeouts.
Hargrove, who went 9-for-17 with five RBI in the Clinton series before this, went 2-for-4 with an RBI and led the team with three runs scored. In his last 10 games coming in, he was batting .424 with seven RBI.
It was a tale of two bullpens Wednesday night. For Beloit, Jaimito Lebron and Heath Bowers went three scoreless innings in relief of Marks. For South Bend, their combination of three relievers gave up six runs, five earned, and nine hits.
For the Snappers, it's the first time since April 28^th their overall record has been above .500, when they were 9-10 overall on the year. They continue to move into uncharted territory this season, now having won their last seven games
As for the offense, it hasn't stopped rolling. Their 14 hits Wednesday meant they now have 10 or more hits in their last six games. They have also hit at least one extra base hit as a team in 18 of their 19 games out of the All-Star break.
Game two of this three game series with South Bend will begin at 6:05 p.m. central time. The Snappers will send right-hander Jean Ruiz (2-6, 5.40) to the mound. Ruiz is coming off his second win of the season, when he went five innings against Clinton on July 6^th and surrendered just one run.
The Beloit Snappers are a member of the Midwest League and have been the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics since 2013. For more ticket information, contact the Snappers office at (608) 362-2272 or on our website, www.snappersbaseball.com.