18-Inning Game Suspended Due to League Curfew Rules

SOUTH BEND, IN - The first game between the South Bend Cubs and Clinton LumberKings will be played over a span of two days as a 6-6 eighth inning tie could not be broken before the Midwest League's official game curfew.

So far, the game has seen 12 different pitchers take the mound between the two teams, 39 total strikeouts, 14 walks, and two home runs.
Clinton pulled ahead with a leadoff double in the top of the first, but the lead did not last long as South Bend also got on the board in the first inning.
Alberto Mineo provided an immediate impact in his return from the disabled list to the lineup by smacking a first inning RBI-double.
The Cubs continued to attack in the second inning with back-to-back doubles by Isaac Paredes and Luis Ayala to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. A LumberKings fielding error then allowed Ayala and Zack Short to score to tack on two more runs for South Bend.
With five runs coming in the first and second frames, the Cubs have now scored 47 runs in the first three innings of their last 17 games.
Cubs' Starter Bryan Hudson worked out of a one out bases loaded jam in the second inning with a strike out and a ground out.
In the fourth inning, D.J. Wilson hit a solo home run, his second in the last three games and third of the season, to power the Cubs to a 6-2 lead after Clinton added a run in the top of the third.
With the Cubs leading 6-2 in the top of the seventh inning, the game came to a surprising halt when home-plate umpire, Matt Cowan, was struck in the head by a hard foul ball and was forced to leave the game. Base-umpire, Raul Moreno took over the duties behind the plate calling the next 11 1/2 innings as a one-man crew.
After the stoppage of the game, Duncan Robinson, who came in to pitch in the sixth, threw two scoreless innings before surrendering four runs on three hits in the top of the eighth, including a two-run Clinton homer that tied the game 6-6.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a strikeout and a pop out in foul territory sent the game to extra innings, a lot of extra innings.
The game remained tied until the 18^th inning as neither team could get their offense going in the last 10 innings of the official contest. The game was then suspended heading into the top of the 19^th due to the Midwest League official game curfew.
Game one between the Cubs and LumberKings will continue Saturday, May 6 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the top of the 19^th inning. Game two will start at 7:05 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Photo credit: Emma Reese