Late-Inning Burst Carries Bandits to Crucial Win Over Lugnuts

Davenport, Iowa – A four-run eighth inning surge lifted the River Bandits to a key victory Wednesday, as Quad Cities defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 8-4 and shrunk their magic number for a first-half playoff berth to two on the penultimate day of the 2025 first half.

After suffering just their second shutout loss of the season last night, the Bandits’ offensive struggles continued early on against 19-year-old Lugnuts’ starter Steven Echavarria, who scattered two singles and a walk over his first 3.0 innings of work.

Quad Cities’ starter, Josh Hansell, matched with 3.0-scoreless innings of his own, but labored to stranded three Lugnuts in scoring position in the process.

Following Hansell’s scoreless top of the fourth, Carson Roccaforte provided the right-hander a 2-0 advantage in the bottom half, taking Echavarria over the right-field wall for a two-run shot, his team-leading sixth of the season.

Lansing eventually broke through against Hansell in the fifth and trimmed Quad Cities’ lead to 2-1 on T.J. Schofield-Sam’s RBI-single, but it would be the right-hander’s only blemish of the night, as Hansell completed his second 5.0-inning start as a River Bandit and departed in line for his first High-A win.

After a 5.0-inning, two-run effort from Echavarria, both club’s bullpens took over in the sixth and began the night cleanly. Nicholas Regalado collected a pair of strikeouts in a perfect top half before Jack Mahoney worked around a pair of singles in the bottom half.

A pair of one-out walks and a pair of wild pitches put Regalado in trouble in the eighth and spurred a pitching change. Zachary Cawyer took over for Quad Cities, but immediately surrendered Schofield-Sam’s second RBI-single of the night, which tied the game at 2-2.

The deadlock would not last long though, as Omar Hernandez took advantage of Austin Charles’ one-out walk and Carter Frederick’s one-out single and smacked a go-ahead two-run double off Mahoney in the bottom of the seventh.

With Quad Cities ahead 4-2, Cawyer returned to the mound in the top of the eighth and using a pair of strikeouts and help from Frederick, who ended the inning and stole a two-out hit from Davis Diaz with a sliding catch, kept the Bandits’ lead at two.

Despite his struggles in the seventh, Mahoney went back to the hill for the bottom of the eighth and immediately ran into traffic, walking Daniel Vazquez—who finished the night 3-for-3 with the free pass—and allowing a single to Sam Kulasingam. Callan Moss then doubled the Bandits’ advantage to 6-4 with a two-run double, pushing his league-leading RBI total to 48 in the process.

Four pitches later, Bryan Gonzalez achieved one of the season’s firsts, lifting a triple off the wall in right field and scoring on a Ryan Lasko throwing error towards third for a little-league homer and an 8-2 Quad Cities lead.

After walking Carson Roccaforte to allow a fifth-straight inning-opening base runner, Mahoney was replaced by Jake Pfennigs, who silenced the rally with three consecutive outs.

Quad Cities reliever A.J. Causey closed out the ballgame in the top of the ninth, but saw a scoreless inning streak snapped at 8.2 innings when fellow Tennessee alumni and former River Bandit Jared Dickey popped a two-out, two-run double to left field to close the scoring at 8-4.

Cawyer (2-0) was charged with a blown save, allowing an inherited base runner to score and tie the game in the seventh, but earned his second win of the year over 1.2-scoreless innings. Mahoney (0-1) suffered his first minor league loss, surrendering six runs, five earned, over 2.0 innings of relief.

With Cedar Rapids’ game against Beloit postponed Wednesday, the River Bandits own a 0.5-game lead for the top spot in the Midwest League West Division and need a win over Lansing and one Kernels loss in their twin bill with the Sky Carp Thursday, or a pair of Kernels losses to secure a first half west division title and a 2025 playoff spot.

Midwest League ERA leader Hunter Patteson (5-1, 1.87) is scheduled to get the start in the final game of the first half tomorrow opposite Lansing’s Grant Judkins (3-4, 4.57). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Modern Woodmen Park.