Quad Cities Flirts with No-Hitter in Shutout Win over Beloit

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits took a no-hitter into the ninth inning Wednesday and shut out the Beloit Sky Carp 3-0 at Modern Woodmen Park.

The blanking marked the Bandits’ Midwest League-leading 13th of the season and the club’s second in the last seven games.

Before the arms chased the no-no, Quad Cities’ bats quickly jumped on Beloit starter Noble Meyer in the second. A pair of singles from Derlin Figueroa and Carter Frederick paved the way for Canyon Brown’s go-ahead sacrifice-fly and Hunter Ensley’s RBI-groundout.

The 2-0 lead was more than enough for Quad Cities’ starter Felix Arronde who, despite issuing a career-high five walks over the course of the night, racked up five strikeouts over his first four scoreless innings.

After picking up his first professional RBI in the second, Hunter Ensley hit the high-point of his River Bandits’ debut in the fourth and won a nine-pitch battle against Sky Carp reliever Nick Maldonado with an RBI-single for his first professional hit and 3-0 Quad Cities edge.

The Huntingdon, Tennessee native signed with the Kansas City Royals as an undrafted free agent on July 17 after a successful collegiate career with Tennessee, where he played a key role in the Volunteers’ 2024 College World Series run.

Arronde continued his strong outing into the sixth, but allowed consecutive two-out walks and was pulled in favor of Dennis Colleran. After the starter left to a standing ovation from the Bandits faithful, Colleran walked his first batter he faced to load the bases, but would strike out Wilson Weber to end the threat.

Colleran then completed a scoreless seventh before handing the ball to Andrew Morones for the eighth. The right-hander allowed back-to-back hits to Ian Lewis and Aiva Arquette, ending Quad Cities’ bid for its 13th no-hitter in franchise history, but struck out Brandon Compton and Garret Forrester to keep the Sky Carp out of the run column.

The Bandits bats failed to score in the final half of the ballgame, including two scoreless innings from Beloit right-hander Chase Centala, but Morones closed out Quad Cities’ first victory of the series and his second save of the season with a scoreless top of the ninth.

Arronde’s (4-6) dominant 5.2 innings earned him the win for the River Bandits, while Meyer (1-3) was saddled with the loss for the Sky Carp after allowing two runs in 2.2 innings of work. Colleran (1.1 IP) earned his season’s third hold with his second-straight scoreless outing.

Quad Cities returns to Modern Woodmen Park for game three of the set tomorrow night and sends Drew Beam (5-8, 3.64) to the mound opposite Beloit’s Luke Lashutka (0-3, 5.84). First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.