Chiefs Break Through in Ninth, Win 5-3

Beloit, WI - The Chiefs plated a pair of runs in the ninth to break a late tie en route to a 5-3 win over the Beloit Sky Carp Tuesday. With the win, the Chiefs improved to 49-66 and 5-2 at ABC Supply Stadium this season.

Both starting pitchers were dominant in the early going. Beloit’s M.D. Johnson sat the Chiefs down in order in each of the first two frames. Meanwhile, Peoria’s Zane Mills whiffed four through two scoreless innings.

Beloit’s Dalvy Rosario kicked off the third inning with a ringing double to set up the first scoring chance for either side. After a groundout moved Rosario to third, Cody Morissette smashed a solid single to right to give the Sky Carp an early 1-0 cushion.

Mills needed just eight pitches to twirl a 1-2-3 fourth inning but Beloit tacked on an insurance run in the fifth. After a double placed runners at second and third. Morissette drove in his second run of the game, this time via a groundout, to move Beloit ahead 2-0.

Johnson stymied the Chiefs offense in the early going and allowed just one hit through five scoreless innings. Tommy Jew flipped the script in the sixth, however. Jew lifted the first pitch he saw for a solo homer to cut the Beloit lead in half, 2-1. For Jew, it was his fifth homer of the year. Johnson rebounded to finish the inning and the book was closed on the Sky Carp starter after six innings.

In the home half of the sixth, Mills worked out of another jam. The Peoria pitcher stranded the bases loaded and was lifted after six innings of two-run ball. Mills recorded his team-leading sixth quality start on Tuesday.

In the seventh, Peoria wasted no time grabbing the lead for the first time. Jacob Buchberger greeted Beloit reliever Chris Mokma with a solo homer to tie the score. After a walk and an error allowed the next two men to reach, Mokma retired back-to-back Chiefs batters to bring Ramon Mendoza to the plate. With two strikes on the Peoria shortstop, Mendoza singled into center to score Osvaldo Tovalin and give the Chiefs a 3-2 bulge.

With Mills now in line for the win, Beloit wasted no time ensuring that he would not factor in the decision Tuesday. The Sky Carp cashed in a lead-off single on a Victor Mesa Jr. knock and the score was tied again, 3-3.

The teams traded zeroes in the eighth as Chris Roycroft recorded a scoreless frame to get the game to the ninth. After Tovalin led off the Peoria ninth with a double, Aaron McKeithan drove him in with a single to center and the Chiefs took a lead they would not relinquish. With the score 4-3, a Noah Mendlinger sac fly tacked on a key insurance to double the lead to 5-3.

In the Beloit ninth, Leonardo Taveras entered in a save spot. Taveras worked around a pair of hits to slam the door shut. The right-hander recorded a pair of outs with the winning run at the plate and got a pop out to end the ballgame.

The Chiefs will look to hand the Sky Carp their seventh consecutive defeat when the series continues Wednesday. Austin Love is the probable starter for Peoria. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.