Kernels Erupt Again on Offense, Top Quad Cities 8-2 

Cedar Rapids, IA - After the Kernels struck for 17 hits in the win on Friday, Cedar Rapids notched 16 hits on Saturday, scoring in six different innings en route to its fourth-straight win over Quad Cities, 8-2.

After scoring 11 times in the win Friday, the Cedar Rapids offense didn’t waste time getting on the scoreboard Saturday. In the bottom of the first inning, Ricardo Olivar ripped a one-out double and scored a batter later on a Gabriel Gonzalez RBI single to put the Kernels on top 1-0.

In the second, Tyler Dearden picked up a one-out single, and after a Misael Urbina hit and a walk loaded the bases, he came home to score on an error to double the Cedar Rapids lead to 2-0.

The lead grew to three in the third. With one out, Jay Harry reached on a base hit, and after a groundout moved him to second, he scored on a Dearden RBI base hit to make it 3-0.

Quad Cities got on the board for the first time in the top of the fourth. With two outs in the frame, Trevor Werner lined a solo home run to cut the Kernels lead down to 3-1.

But that was the only run scored on Kernels’ starter Christian MacLeod. The southpaw picked up his third win in as many starts, allowing just one run on two hits with four strikeouts across 5.1 innings.

With MacLeod putting up zeros, the Kernels offense blew it open in the bottom of the fourth. Rayne Doncon doubled to begin the inning, and after Olivar walked to put two on, Kevin Maitan crushed a three-run home run to increase the Cedar Rapids advantage to 6-1.

In the home half of the fifth, Baez singled to begin the frame and moved to third on a Dearden base hit. Three batters later, Baez came home to score the Kernels' seventh run of the game on a Doncon RBI single.

A Spencer Nivens solo home run in the top of the seventh put Quad Cities back on the board and made it 7-2 before an RBI single by Ricardo Olivar in the bottom half of the frame put the Kernels back up by six at 8-2, the score which would be the final.

The win is the Kernels’ fourth straight to wrap up the series with Quad Cities and improves Cedar Rapids to 48-31 on the season and 11-4 in the second half. The Kernels have a pair of off days before opening up a six-game series in Beloit on Tuesday at 6:35. Both starters for game one are TBD.