Cubs Fall in Extras to Sky Carp 5-4
Beloit, WI - The South Bend Cubs struck out 11 Beloit Sky Carp players, and Beloit left 15 men on base throughout Friday night’s game. But in a winding and weaving Game 4 of this week’s series, Beloit found a way to edge the Cubs in 10 innings, by a
Beloit, WI - The South Bend Cubs struck out 11 Beloit Sky Carp players, and Beloit left 15 men on base throughout Friday night’s game. But in a winding and weaving Game 4 of this week’s series, Beloit found a way to edge the Cubs in 10 innings, by a final of 5-4.
It was a day of missed opportunities on both sides. Left-hander Drew Gray got the start for South Bend, and had to pitch out of multiple jams early. In the 1st, Beloit loaded up the bases, but the Sky Carp pushed across just one run on a sacrifice fly by Torin Montgomery. In the 2nd, Gray walked three Beloit players, and also struck out three. However, the Sky Carp came up with nothing in the frame.
The 2nd was also South Bend’s most efficient inning of the day. Jonathon Long walked, and Rafael Morel punched a single into center for a quick rally. It was Morel’s fifth hit in the last two games, as he extended his on-base streak to eight straight games. The next batter was Pedro Ramirez, who tattooed a triple into the right-center field gap, scoring two runs.
The runs came against Beloit starter, 19-year-old right-hander Karson Milbrandt. The number-six overall Miami Marlins prospect was able to lock in following that point though, and worked 1-2-3 innings in three of the next four frames. That kept Beloit in it.
Up 2-1 over the middle innings, South Bend received a scoreless inning from Jack Patterson in the 3rd. And right-hander Brody McCullough also made his 2024 season debut after being assigned to South Bend earlier in the day. McCullough spun together 2.2 shutout innings.
In the 7th though, Beloit crushed their 11th home run of the series when Carlos Santiago gave the Sky Carp the 3-2 lead on a two-run shot. This started a late inning back-and-forth stretch between the two teams.
South Bend took five consecutive walks in the top of the 8th, with a run scoring on a wild pitch, and another on a bases loaded walk as they took the 4-3 lead right back. Beloit tied it once more in the bottom of the 8th via a Joe Mack RBI double.
The 9th went scoreless for both sides, although South Bend put the go-ahead run at third base. To extra innings we went, and the Cubs were unable to execute a tally with runners at second and third base.
In the bottom of the 10th, Beloit’s automatic courtesy runner Johnny Olmstead went to third base on a wild pitch, then scored on a walk-off single from Mark Coley. The Sky Carp took the game 5-4.
With the loss, South Bend has dropped five consecutive games, and will look to get in the ‘W’ column for the first time in the Beloit series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM ET with right-hander Luis Devers on the mound.