Bowlan, Bullpen Lead Bandits to Third-Straight Win
South Bend, Indiana – The Quad Cities River Bandits picked up their third consecutive win on Friday night, kicking off their post all-star break schedule with a 3-1 victory over the South Bend Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Four Winds Field. In his first full-season outing
South Bend, Indiana – The Quad Cities River Bandits picked up their third consecutive win on Friday night, kicking off their post all-star break schedule with a 3-1 victory over the South Bend Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Four Winds Field.
In his first full-season outing since 2021, Jonathan Bowlan led the charge for the Bandits on the mound, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings and working around six hits and a walk while striking out six in his Midwest League debut.
On the other side, Cubs’ starter Porter Hodge began his MWL career with 4.2 shutout innings of his own and only allowed two hits while whiffing four.
After being held off the board by reliever Riley Martin in his first 1.1 innings of work, Quad Cities broke the scoreless tie in the top of the seventh, with Tyler Tolbert taking advantage of Herard Gonzalez’s leadoff walk and tripling in the second baseman with a three-bagger to right-center field.
The next batter, Kale Emshoff, made it a 2-0 Q.C. lead, plating Tolbert from third with a sacrifice-fly two pitches later.
In the bottom of the frame, the Cubs also cracked into the run column for the first time and used Pete Crow-Armstrong’s solo shot to cut the Bandits’ lead in half.
The homer would be the only run Emilio Marquez would allow though, as the left-hander tossed 3.0 innings with four strikeouts and wouldn’t keep the contest within a run for long, as Diego Hernandez responded in the top of the eighth with the third knock of his three-hit night, a solo blast of his own against Hunter Bigge.
After Anderson Paulino used a double play to help work a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Kasey Kalich got the ball for the Bandits in the tail-half of the ninth and, despite allowing the first two batters he faced to reach, stranded both men in scoring position to end the game and secure his sixth save of the season.
Marquez (9-2) earned his team-leading ninth win of the season for Quad Cities, while Martin (4-4) got pegged for South Bend’s loss, allowing two runs in 2.0 innings.
The River Bandits will look to win their third series of the season against South Bend on Saturday and will send William Fleming (0-1, 7.07) to the hill to battle Luis Devers (1-0, 0.84). First pitch at Four Winds Field is scheduled for 7:05pm ET.