Resilient Quad Cities Comes Up Short in Loss to Beloit

Beloit, Wisconsin – The River Bandits scored five runs over the final three innings on Wednesday, but their late-game rally fell short, as they were defeated by the Beloit Sky Carp 6-5 to even the six-game series one win apiece.

Quad Cities was held out of the run column through the duration of Emmett Olson’s 5.2-inning start, mustering just four base runners against the Beloit left-hander in his High-A debut, but the Bandits eventually broke through against the Sky Carp bullpen in the seventh while facing a 4-0 deficit.

Jared Dickey provided the opening salvo, launching his team-leading fourth home run of the year—a two-run shot—off Kyle Crigger to trim Beloit’s lead to two, but just one half-inning later, a two-run blast off the bat of Sky Carp catcher Andrew Fernandez again put QC behind by four.

In the eighth, the Bandits battled back again courtesy of Omar Hernandez, who drove in a pair against Dale Stanavich with a single down the right-field line, before Dickey beat out a fielder’s choice to plate Brett Squires, making it 6-5, Beloit. But in the ninth, despite Carter Jensen reaching as the game-tying run, Sky Carp closer Evan Turner shut the door on a comeback with a pair of strikeouts as part of his second save of the year.

While Olsen (1-0) earned the win for Beloit, Quad Cities’ starter Ben Kudrna (2-2) was tagged with his second loss of the year despite seven strikeouts and working a 6.0-inning start for the second time this season. The Royals No. 4 prospect allowed all four of his earned runs in the third inning, with three coming on Jake Thompson’s first long ball of the year.

The River Bandits continue their six-game set in Beloit on Thursday night behind the arm of Ryan Ramsey (0-0, 2.45), who makes his first start of the season against Beloit’s Cade Gibson (0-1, 5.54). First pitch at ABC Supply Stadium is scheduled for 6:35 pm.