Cedar Rapids Dominates Beloit in 8-2 Win

BELOIT, Wis. – Career efforts for Spencer Steer, Kody Funderburk, and Jordan Gore carried the Cedar Rapids Kernels towards an 8-2 victory Wednesday versus the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field. Steer tallied a personal-best three extra-base hits including a pair of home runs. Funderburk and Gore set career highs in strikeouts for the Kernels (14-18) which ended the game with an incredible team total of 21 strikeouts.

Two solo shots by Steer delivered a 2-0 lead. He opened the first and third innings with leadoff round-trippers and now leads the Kernels with seven homers overall. Five of his seven blasts have come in an active three-game home run streak.

Ynmanol Marinez put Beloit (16-16) on the scoreboard during the home half of the third. Marinez launched his first professional four-bagger over the wall in center field and trimmed the deficit to 2-1.

A three-run fourth inning left Cedar Rapids with a 5-1 advantage. Michael Helman, Leobaldo Cabrera, and Chris Williams received one-out walks to load the bases. Gabriel Maciel hit a sacrifice fly before Steer added a two-run double.

The Snappers were only able to climb within 5-2 later in the fourth. Connor Scott singled to open the frame and reached third base on two wild pitches prior to coming home via Griffin Conine’s RBI groundout.

Funderburk (1-1) allowed no other damage as he finished five strong innings with just two runs surrendered while striking out 12 Snappers to earn the win. His 12 strikeouts represent the biggest single-game total for a Cedar Rapids pitcher since July 20, 2018 at Great Lakes when Bailey Ober posted his second 12-strikeout appearance of the season.

Alex Isola and Wander Javier capped the scoring Wednesday on big flies late in the evening. Isola crushed a two-run homer to center field within the seventh, and Javier drilled a solo shot to left field during the ninth to get the winning margin to 8-2.

Gore and Zach Featherstone combined for perfect relief pitching. Gore shattered his personal high in strikeouts by fanning eight of nine batters faced in his team-high third hold. Featherstone struck out one hitter in a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The 21 total strikeouts broke the franchise’s recent record (Major League Baseball’s Stats Reporting Platform goes through 2005) and tied the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Inland Empire 66ers for the best mark in the 2021 Minor League Baseball season.

Beloit’s losing pitcher was Zach King (1-5). He gave up five runs over 4.2 innings pitched. King has factored in the decision in all six of his starts this season.

Coming up, first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Thursday for the next encounter between the Kernels and the Snappers at Pohlman Field. Right-handed pitcher Jon Olsen (0-3, 3.86) will start for Cedar Rapids, and Beloit will send out right-hander Alberto Guerrero (1-2, 6.57).

Cedar Rapids will host its next homestand from June 15 through June 27. Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids Kernels home games by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.