I-Cubs Topple Toledo in 11 Innings

TOLEDO, OH - The Iowa Cubs (53-70) earned an extra innings victory against the Toledo Mud Hens (58-64) by a final score of 5-3 in 11 innings on Thursday night at Fifth Third Field.

It was the I-Cubs who struck first in tonight’s contest after the first two frames went scoreless. Infielder Matt Shaw was the one who did the damage with a solo home run in the top of the third inning, which gave Iowa the early 1-0 lead.

The 1-0 lead remained intact for Iowa after six innings of play with starting pitcher Brandon Birdsell holding the Toledo bats in check. He finished his outing with a final line of 6.0 scoreless innings, four hits allowed, no walks, and nine strikeouts.

After Birdsell’s night was done, Toledo was able to breakthrough in the scoring department. In the bottom of the seventh, Drew Maggi tied the game on one swing of the bat with a solo shot.

The game moved into extra innings after neither team scored in the eighth or ninth innings and Iowa jumped back out in front in the 10th. After Miles Mastrobuoni moved the automatic runner over to third with a sacrifice bunt, James Triantos brought in the run with a single back up the middle making the score 2-1. Toledo matched in the bottom of the frame, however, with an RBI single from Andrew Navigato.

In the 11th, Iowa reclaimed its lead by scoring three runs on a trio of singles from Luis Vazquez, Chase Strumpf, and Mastrobuoni. The Mud Hens did get one run back in the bottom of the frame, but Eduarniel Nunez closed it out and secured the win for Iowa.

POSTGAME NOTES:
• Brandon Birdsell tied his season high and career high with his nine strikeouts on the night.
• Catcher William Simoneit recorded his first career hit as an Iowa Cub with a single in the top of the fifth.
• James Triantos tallied his first career three-hit performance at the Triple-A level going 3-for-6 at the plate with a double and an RBI.
• Eduarniel Nunez earned his first career Triple-A save with his lone inning pitched tonight.

Iowa and Toledo will next face off on Friday for the fourth game of their current six-game series. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. CT. You can listen to all Iowa Cubs games on Hope AM940 and stream every home game for free on the Bally Live App. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.