Loons Outlast Cubs in 11 Innings 6-3
South Bend, IN - In a back-and-forth battle, the Great Lakes Loons held on and saved their biggest rally of the night for the 11th inning, as they beat the South Bend Cubs by a final score of 6-3. After the two ball club’s played a rain-shortened eight inning affair
South Bend, IN - In a back-and-forth battle, the Great Lakes Loons held on and saved their biggest rally of the night for the 11th inning, as they beat the South Bend Cubs by a final score of 6-3. After the two ball club’s played a rain-shortened eight inning affair on Tuesday, they made it up with the neck-and-neck Wednesday night game. It marked the second time in three games South Bend had played into an 11th inning to finish a game.
The day started with left-hander Drew Gray on the mound, and he finished with one of the more unordinary lines of the season. Gray worked out of a bases loaded jam in both the 1st and 2nd innings to set the tone for the night. However, many of the base runners early came on free passes.
In 3.1 shutout innings, Gray struck out eight batters, which was just one short of a career high set earlier this month. He surrendered just one hit, walked six, and took a no-decision. He found his best stuff when facing adversity, and South Bend in turn was on the board first.
Thanks to a groundout RBI from Ezequiel Pagan, South Bend led 1-0 in the 4th inning. It was Pagan’s third RBI in the last two night’s.
Out of the Cubs bullpen, Luis Devers got the final two outs of the 4th, worked a scoreless 5th, and sent two Loons packing in the 6th before Great Lakes tied the game with a Jake Vogel single.
Later, the Loons took their first lead on a wild pitch in the 7th, but Cam Smith quickly tied it on a double in the 8th. Smith has played two games with South Bend, and has multiple hits in both of them. The 2024 Chicago Cubs first-round pick was promoted to High-A at the start of this week.
Tied at 2-2, the game of back-and-forth really picked up heading towards extra innings. The top of the 10th featured Great Lakes swiping the lead right back when Nick Biddison doubled in Jordan Thompson. The Cubs came clawing back though in the bottom of the 10th as Jefferson Rojas plated Christian Olivo on a sac-fly RBI.
To end the bottom of the 10th, the Cubs had the winning run at third base, and shortstop Sean Sean McLain made a superb play on a sliding stop and throw to first to conclude the frame.
To the 11th we went, and the Loons used that momentum to score three big tallies, taking command of the game. Lefty Garrett McDaniels struck out the side to finish things, and the Loons won the first two of the week.
South Bend will look to get back in the victory column on Thursday night when the two meet again at 7:05 PM. Right-hander Will Sanders is the expected starter for the Cubs.