Sky Carp Strike for 15 Runs, Drop Kernels 15-5

BELOIT, Wis – Beloit erased an early 3-0 deficit with 15 runs on 15 hits Sunday afternoon to come from behind and down the Kernels 15-5 to earn a split in the six-game series.

After the Kernels lost a lead in the defeat on Saturday, they got on the board first again on Sunday. With one out in the top of the first, Eduardo Tait singled, moved up to second on a Khadim Diaw walk, advanced to third on a passed ball and came home to score on a balk to put Cedar Rapids on top 1-0.

In the second, the lead grew. Andy Lugo was hit by a pitch in front of Miguel Briceno, who lined a two-run home run to left to jump Cedar Rapids ahead 3-0. In his first start of the season, Briceno went 4-4 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 runs.

But that Kernels lead was short-lived. Beloit struck for three to tie it in the bottom of the second. A pair of singles put two on for Chase Jaworsky, who plated both with a two-run triple. Two batters later, Jaworsky scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 3-3.

In the third, the Sky Carp took the lead. Juan Matheus smashed a home run to right to lift Beloit on top, 4-3.

They opened it up in the fifth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases before a wild pitch scored a run to make it 5-3. After a strikeout, Starlyn Caba singled in a run to push the advantage to 6-3. Matheus then crushed his second home run in as many innings, this time a three-run shot to extend the lead to 9-3.

The Kernels got a run back in the fifth. A Briceno single followed by a Jacob McCombs double put two in scoring position for Tait, who plated a run with a sac fly to lessen the deficit to 9-4.

But that was the closest the Kernels would get. The Sky Carp tallied six more runs in the seventh, highlighted by a Matheus RBI double and a Connor Caskenette three-run home run to widen the lead to 15-4.

Briceno continued his big day with an RBI single in the eighth to make it 15-5, but that would be the end of the Cedar Rapids scoring on the day in the 15-5 loss.

The defeat drops the Kernels to 5-4 on the season as they split the six-game set in Beloit. Cedar Rapids returns home Tuesday to open a six-game series against Quad Cities at 6:05. Both starters in game one are TBD.