Ayers’ Ninth Inning Heroics Leads Cubs Over Chiefs 5-4

Peoria, IL - Down to their last two outs of the game in the 9th inning against the Peoria Chiefs down 4-3, the South Bend Cubs picked up a crucial double by Leonel Espinoza. Owen Ayers then came up, and crushed his second home run of the week over the right field wall to swipe the 5-4 lead from Peoria. South Bend closed out the victory, and in doing so secured its first series win of 2026, taking four of six games away from the Chiefs.

Sunday began with South Bend taking the game’s first lead for the fifth time out of six games in the series. The only game Peoria scored first in was on Saturday, but the Cubs still won it 9-3. South Bend lead-off man Kane Kepley needed little time to get the Cubs offense cooking, doubling on the first pitch of the game thrown by Peoria starter Nate Dohm. Kepley was quickly driven in via Espinoza, who singled up the middle.

On the mound for the Cubs was right-hander Koen Moreno. Back in the series opener on Tuesday, Moreno surrendered seven runs on five hits, and was pulled from the game due to pitch count after 0.2 innings. Moreno came back for revenge on Sunday, and tossed four shutout innings with zero walks and four strikeouts.

South Bend also gave Moreno plenty of insurance, with two runs in the top of the 4th. The first, courtesy of Matt Halbach’s solo home run. The big Cubs third baseman has homered in back-to-back games and has begun the season 7/19 at the plate with four RBI.

The bottom of the 5th led to the largest rally of the series for Peoria. Right-hander Kenten Egbert was the first man out of the bullpen for the Cubs, and after Peoria plated their first run of the game via an RBI single, Tai Peete lifted an opposite field three-run home run out of the yard to give the Chiefs the lead at 4-3.

Egbert fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the 6th inning, keeping South Bend in it. From there, the Cubs certainly had their chances to tie and take the lead over the following innings. From the top of the 5th through the top of the 8th, the Cubs left six men on base. Still, the bullpen kept the game steady with Egbert and Marino Santy combining to work scoreless baseball leading up to the 9th inning.

In the 9th, facing Peoria righty Jason Savacool, Espinoza doubled, and Ayers belted his two-run homer, putting South Bend in front. Ayers was on base in all six-games played this week at Dozer Park, with his two home runs.

In the bottom of the 9th, Santy executed a shutout frame, and South Bend took the win, along with the series victory back home with them. Last season, South Bend did not win a Sunday road game until July 13, they have their first this season on April 12.

The Cubs will return home to Four Winds Field on Tuesday night to welcome in the Beloit Sky Carp for a six-game series. First pitch on Tuesday night is set for 7:05 PM in Downtown South Bend.