Cubs Hold On To Take Series Lead and Defeat Wisconsin 7-6

Appleton, WI - The South Bend Cubs have the opportunity to do the same thing to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers that they did to the West Michigan Whitecaps at Four Winds Field last week. South Bend lost two of the first three games to West Michigan last series, and then took victories on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to win the series. This week against Wisconsin, South Bend did the same through the first-half of the week, before winning in incredible fashion late on Friday night. Saturday, the Cubs defeated Wisconsin again, holding on down the stretch for a 7-6 victory.

Thought the week, Wisconsin has controlled the early part of games often times. The Timber Rattlers had scored first in a game in three of the four games this week, but it was South Bend on the board first on Saturday. Following a lead-off walk by Josiah Hartshorn, and a single by Jose Escobar, Angel Cepeda launched his third home run of the series, and ninth with the Cubs this season to make it a 3-0 early Cubs lead.

Pierce Coppola was the South Bend starter, and after working out of a 1st inning jam, Coppola tossed a perfect second-inning. With the Cubs unable to expand on their early three-run lead, Wisconsin got back into the game with a pair of solo home runs by the same man. Luis Castillo hammered a pair of solo round trippers to cut the Cubs lead to 3-2 heading to the 7th.

That’s when things started to go pretty back-and-forth. South Bend earned some insurance with a pair of runs in the top of the 7th. Justin Stransky doubled home Matt Halbach, and after another Hartshorn walk, Jose Escobar drove in a run. That was quickly answered with a run by Wisconsin.

South Bend added more insurance in the 8th, picking up two more runs. This time, Reggie Preciado doubled in Leonel Espinoza, and Halbach plated Preciado via an RBI single.

Still, again, Wisconsin had an answer. In both the 7th and 8th, the Rattlers loaded the bases, and after the Cubs caught a break with just one run scoring in the 7th, Wisconsin scored three times in the 8th to cut it to a one-run game. Thankfully for the Cubs, just as more damage could have been done, Adam Stone got the final two outs of the 8th as Wisconsin left the bags loaded.

In the 9th, Stone locked down the game with a 1-2-3 inning to cap off the victory. South Bend remains with the best record in the Midwest League at 72-49.

The Cubs can now win the series with another victory on Sunday. First pitch from Fox Cities Stadium is set for 2:10 EST, with right-hander Anhuar Garcia scheduled to start the game for South Bend.