Cubs split doubleheader with Lake County to open series

Eastlake, OH: After an off day on Sunday, the South Bend Cubs had some time to prepare for six games in four days against the Lake County Captains.

After two games were postponed in their series earlier in April, the teams made up one of the games on Monday night by playing two. Lake County and South Bend split the two games with the Captains winning game one 3-2, and the Cubs taking game two 11-0.
Lake County walked off against South Bend in game one with a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th inning by Oscar Gonzalez over the left center field wall. To start the inning, right hander Brendan King struck out the first two he faced, but allowed the round tripper to finish the first contest.
In both games, the home run ball was a major factor with a combined five home runs in the two games. In game one, Captains right fielder Will Benson took the league lead in home runs with a line shot over the right field wall.
That was quickly answered by the Cubs as Jared Young as he belted his fourth home run of the season to score him and Jhonny Bethencourt. There are now three players tied for most home runs on the team with Miguel Amaya, Jared Young, and Michael Cruz all having four. Lake County added a run in the bottom of the 3rd to make the game 2-2.
South Bend had their chances to run away with the win in game one. In the top of the 6th with two runners in scoring position, Nelson Velazquez dribbled a ball out to third base. Miguel Amaya ran home on contact, but he was thrown out by third baseman Nolan Jones to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the 7th, Lake County walked off and won their 17th game of the season.
The Cubs flipped the script in game two with an 11-0 shutout performance over the Captains. With five combined runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, South Bend hit two more home runs in game two to blow out Lake County.
Brandon Hughes hit his first homer of the year and just missed another one in the game to finish 2/3. Austin Filiere is now hitting over .410 in his past five games and added a three run home run of his own in the top of the 3rd.
Every player for the Cubs reached base in game two. The solid run support benefited starter Erich Uelmen, who earned his second professional victory in the game. The right hander is now 2-4 on the season. Uelmen worked six scoring innings and allowed just four hits while striking out six.
After splitting the two games, Lake County remains one game ahead of the Cubs in the division standings. South Bend's record sits at 15-19. With four games remaining in the series, the Cubs can get back to .500 if they sweep the rest of the games remaining.
Left hander Ricky Tyler Thomas will take the ball for the Cubs tomorrow night against the Captains. Thomas is 1-3 so far with a 3.21 ERA in six games. First pitch from Classic Park is set for 6:30 p.m.