Bote Walks to Walk It Off

DES MOINES, IA - A walkoff walk snapped Iowa's seven-game losing streak as the I-Cubs (26-45) collected a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (38-33) in front of 12,942 fans, Friday at Principal Park.

Mark Zagunis sparked the drive, drawing a five-pitch walk with two outs in the ninth. Back-to-back singles from Jacob Hannemann and Victor Caratini loaded the bases and David Bote, down 0-2 in the count, worked back to draw a walk and force in the winning run.
Colorado Springs led most of the way, breaking the scoreless game in the fourth. In just his third Triple-A start, Trevor Clifton retired the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a one-out single in the fourth to Tyrone Taylor. A two-run blast off the bat of Christian Bethancourt put the first runs of the game on the board in the inning.
Jett Bandy sparked a two-out rally for the Sky Sox in the fifth with a base hit. Brandon Woodruff and Andrés Blanco duplicated the effort with singles to bring in a run and pad Colorado Springs' lead.
Held to just one hit through five, Iowa broke through in the sixth. Wynton Bernard roped a leadoff double, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a Caratini single. Caratini has 18 RBI in 22 games for Iowa this season.
Zagunis helped ignite Iowa's offense just in time with a leadoff single in the eighth. The I-Cubs loaded the bags with nobody out as Hannemann was plunked with a pitch and Caratini drew a walk. Bote and Taylor Davis skied back-to-back sacrifice flies to lock the game and set up the walkoff for Iowa.
Clifton turned over the ball to the bullpen after five, allowing three earned runs on five hits and a walk. He fanned six, his most in a Triple-A outing. Brad Markey, Dakota Mekkes and Dillon Maples made up the scoreless relief effort.
Iowa and Colorado Springs play a split doubleheader tomorrow at 12:08 and 7:08. For more information or tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.