COLUMBUS, OH – The Iowa Cubs (27-38) surrendered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to the Columbus Clippers (29-37), losing 4-3, Thursday at Huntington Park.
Oscar Gonzalez opened the scoring in the second inning, hitting an RBI double that drove in Wilson Ramos to give Columbus
COLUMBUS, OH – The Iowa Cubs (27-38) surrendered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to the Columbus Clippers (29-37), losing 4-3, Thursday at Huntington Park.
Oscar Gonzalez opened the scoring in the second inning, hitting an RBI double that drove in Wilson Ramos to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Nolan Jones would add to their lead in the third, with his third solo home run in as many games this series.
Joe Biagini threw five innings of three-hit ball, walking three batters and striking out five. He held the Clippers off the board after the third inning home run, allowing Iowa’s offense to get back in the game.
They did so in the fifth, tying the game 2-2 on RBI singles from Ian Miller and Abiatal Avelino. The game stayed there until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Owen Miller hit a solo home run off of Matt Swarmer, giving Columbus a 3-2 lead.
Iowa got the run back in the top of the ninth, sending the game to the bottom of the frame tied 3-3. Ben Leeper entered the game for Iowa and the first batter he faced, Trenton Brooks, crushed a solo home run, giving Columbus a 4-3 win.
POSTGAME NOTES:
• Matt Swarmer pitched in relief for the first time this season with Iowa, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing one earned run on a solo home run. Swarmer gave up four hits and didn’t walk or strike out a batter.
• With Trenton Brooks’ walk-off home run in the ninth inning, Columbus has now hit 11 home runs against Iowa this series.
• The loss marked Ben Leeper’s first Triple-A loss of his career, he was 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 12 games with Iowa entering the appearance.
• With another solo home run today, Nolan Jones has now hit four home runs in his last four games against Iowa, dating back to the final game of their last series, on Sunday, June 13.
Iowa and Columbus will face off for game four of the series tomorrow night, with first pitch set for 6:05 pm CT, Friday at Huntington Park. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.
