Cubs Capture Beloit Series With Comprehensive 12-5 Win
The South Bend Cubs (8-3) won their series against the Beloit Sky Carp (5-8) on Saturday afternoon at Four Winds Field, winning 12-5. The Cubs exhausted the Beloit pitching staff, forcing the Sky Carp to use seven pitchers, including a position player. They are the first team in South Bend
The South Bend Cubs (8-3) won their series against the Beloit Sky Carp (5-8) on Saturday afternoon at Four Winds Field, winning 12-5. The Cubs exhausted the Beloit pitching staff, forcing the Sky Carp to use seven pitchers, including a position player. They are the first team in South Bend Cubs history to win each of their first two series of the season.
Click here to view Saturday’s box score.
After tossing four shutout innings last Sunday in Peoria, Cubs right-hander Koen Moreno did well again as Saturday’s starting pitcher. He allowed just one run in another four innings against Beloit, striking out five and conceding only one hit.
The Cubs’ offense supported Moreno, taking advantage of five walks in 2.1 innings from Beloit right-hander Liomar Martinez. South Bend grabbed four runs in the second inning, scoring the first two on consecutive doubles from third baseman Matt Halbach and first baseman Cameron Sisneros, who drove in the two runs. Center fielder Kane Kepley later came up and slashed a bases-loaded single to left, plating two more runs for his first High-A RBI.
South Bend didn’t make it any easier on Beloit’s bullpen, tacking on another run in the fourth inning. Kepley, after ripping a single and stealing his third base of the game, crossed the plate on an opposite-way single from right fielder Kade Snell.
Beloit drew closer in the top of the fifth, notching two runs against right-hander Ethan Bell. However, their success stopped against fellow righty Grayson Moore, who pitched in a 5-3 game with the tying run on base and wiggled out of the inning. He’d go on to deliver 2.2 scoreless frames, finishing with some help from his defense in the seventh. Sisneros erased a leadoff single by scooping a ball at first to start a double play, and second baseman Drew Bowser made a diving grab on a soft liner to end the frame.
Meanwhile, the Cubs broke the game open in its second half, scoring once in the fifth before batting around and getting five in the seventh. In the big inning, four different players notched an RBI single — catcher Owen Ayers, Snell, Sisneros, and Bowser. Ayers added a solo home run to right field for good measure in the eighth inning, rounding the bases on his sixth blast of the year and fourth of the series.
Overall, the South Bend offense finished the day with 12 runs on 12 hits, 13 walks, and seven stolen bases. The Cubs have 33 steals on the season, and they remain the only team in Minor League Baseball to not be caught stealing this year. Left fielder Leonel Espinoza and shortstop Christian Olivo each walked four times, while Kepley reached base safely five times. Ayers, Sisneros, and Snell all collected three RBI on the day.
The Cubs and Sky Carp will finish the series with a 2:05 PM first pitch on Sunday, April 19. Right-hander Brooks Caple, who struck out a career-high nine in 5.2 innings on Tuesday, is scheduled to pitch for South Bend against Beloit righty Aiden May.