Cubs Drop Third Straight to Sky Carp in 7-3 Game

After beginning the week 2-0 against Beloit, the best the South Bend Cubs can hope for is a series split come Sunday. The Sky Carp have won each of the last three contests, defeating the Cubs by a 7-3 margin on Saturday afternoon at Four Winds Field. Despite outhitting the Sky Carp 10-8, the Cubs didn’t score after the third inning and dropped to 6-14 for the season. Beloit now stands a win away from .500 at 9-10 for the year.

Click here to view Saturday afternoon’s box score.

After recording just three total hits between Thursday’s and Friday’s losses, the Cubs' offense went to work right away on Saturday. Taking their cuts against right-hander Jake Brooks, South Bend put two runners on with two outs for Ariel Armas, and the catcher delivered. His single to left field brought in shortstop Jefferson Rojas for the game’s first run.

South Bend starting pitcher Ryan Gallagher pitched quite well with that lead early on. Making his third professional start, the right-hander retired each of the first eight hitters he faced before slowing his pace in the third inning. Beloit center fielder Emaarion Boyd singled with two outs in that frame, later stealing second before coming home on a blooper of an RBI double from designated hitter Wilfredo Lara. Cubs right fielder Ivan Brethowr nearly made a sliding catch coming in on the two-bagger, but the ball clanked off his glove and dropped on the grass.

The Cubs didn’t keep the game tied for long, plating two runs in the bottom of the third. They started with two outs and the bases empty, as Brethowr ripped his second single of the day and center fielder Andy Garriola followed with a double to the left-field wall. After a hit by pitch loaded the bases, third baseman Edgar Alvarez popped up a ball that cleared the range of Sky Carp second baseman Yiddi Cappe and fell into shallow right-center. Two runs touched home on the single, sending the Cubs to the fourth inning with a 3-1 lead.

After dealing a scoreless fourth, Gallagher attempted to complete five innings for the first time in his professional career, but he couldn’t do so as Beloit tied the game again. A one-out throwing error from Alvarez breathed life into the Sky Carp, who closed within a run on Lara’s RBI single. The hit forced a pitching change from South Bend, which brought in right-hander Joe Nahas for his 2025 Cubs debut. He recorded the final two outs to keep the potential go-ahead run stuck at first, but the tying run did score from third on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Gage Miller.

Beloit would continue its offensive surge in the sixth, taking the lead with a trio of runs. Nahas continued on the mound for the Cubs, walking the leadoff man and eventually putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out. The Sky Carp capitalized, as left fielder Colby Shade floated an RBI double before first baseman Michael Snyder plated two with a single. South Bend’s bullpen held the Carp scoreless over the next two innings, beginning with Johzan Oquendo leaving the bases loaded to reach 11.1 innings without an earned run this season. Sam Thoresen then struck out all three he faced in the eighth before Beloit tacked on a run via a bases-loaded walk in the ninth.

Beloit’s bullpen didn’t give an inch on the other side, though. Brooks finished off five innings of three-run baseball, handing the keys over to Brandon White for the sixth, seventh, and eighth frames. The reliever pitched to perfection during that stretch, retiring all nine Cubs who opposed him while punching out four. Ninth-inning man Holt Jones loaded the bases and brought up designated hitter Cristian Hernandez as the tying run with two outs, but the No. 11 Cubs prospect grounded out to end both the game and his six-game hit streak.

Sunday’s series finale will begin at 2:05 PM and feature right-hander Kenten Egbert as South Bend’s starting pitcher.