South Bend Erupts for 15 Runs on 17 Hits, Rocks Cedar Rapids 15-2
Cedar Rapids, IA - South Bend matched its season-high with 15 runs Friday night on a season-best 17 hits as the Cubs rolled past the Kernels 15-2. South Bend hopped on the board first for the fourth straight game to begin the series. With two outs in the top of
Cedar Rapids, IA - South Bend matched its season-high with 15 runs Friday night on a season-best 17 hits as the Cubs rolled past the Kernels 15-2.
South Bend hopped on the board first for the fourth straight game to begin the series. With two outs in the top of the first inning, Ethan Hearn crushed a solo home run to lift the Cubs on top 1-0.
In the second, the Cubs began to pull away. After a strikeout to begin the inning, South Bend scored four runs on five consecutive hits to open it up to 5-0. After a second strikeout in the frame, Jacob Wetzal added on with an RBI double to make it 6-0, and a batter later, he came home to score on a Jordan Nwogu RBI single to up the advantage to 7-0.
Cedar Rapids got on the board for the first time in the bottom of the second. To lead off the inning, Rixon Wingrove blasted a solo home run, his second of the series, to make it 7-1.
But in the third, South Bend took full control back. For the second straight inning, the Cubs struck for six runs, this time on four walks, two doubles and a triple to grab a commanding 13-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Cedar Rapids got back on the scoreboard. Walker Jenkins doubled to lead off the inning, and after a Gabriel Gonzalez walk, he scored on a Rubel Cespedes RBI double to make it 13-2.
South Bend scored twice more in the ninth off of position player Matthew Clayton to up its lead to 15-2, the score that would be the final.
Rafael Marcano was the major bright spot for Cedar Rapids in the loss. After the Cubs scored 13 runs across the first three innings, Marcano tossed four straight scoreless innings out of off the Kernels' bullpen, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three in innings 4-7.
The loss is the Kernels' third across the first four games in the series with South Bend, as Cedar Rapids drops to 59-51 on the year and 22-24 in the second half. Game five of the six-game series is set for Saturday at 6:35 with Connor Prielipp on the mound opposite Jaxon Wiggins.