SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Beloit Sky Carp pounced on the South Bend Cubs’ bullpen, racking up seven hits and a pair of walks off relievers Nico Zeglin and Mitchell Tyranski in just 2 2-3 innings.
But it only amounted to two runs, and the Sky Carp left nine total on base and went just 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position as the Cubs welcomed Beloit to their six-game homestand with a 3-2 win in front of 3,074 on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field.
Beloit’s offense has seen a bit of a resurgence as of late as it was tied for the worst batting average in the Midwest League its past 24 games heading into last Friday’s at .207 before it poured on eight runs on Friday and 11 on Saturday while racking up 19 total hits.
The Sky Carp smacked eight hits but it fell in Sunday’s series finale to the Quad Cities River Bandits 9-3. They went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
That issue reared its ugly head once again for Beloit on Tuesday.
Ryan Ignoffo singled off South Bend starter Grant Kipp with two outs in the top of the first inning but Kemp Alderman popped out to end the threat.
Kipp settled in from there as he retired the next 14 Sky Carp batters he faced.
Shade snapped the drought with a two-out double in the sixth but Gage Miller grounded out to third in the next at-bat to cap off the Cubs’ starter’s fine evening. He allowed just two hits and struck out four without issuing a single base on balls.
Sky Carp starter Karson Milbrandt had a solid performance from the mound, as well. But a three-run fourth inning proved to be all the Cubs needed to get off of the 2022 third-round pick.
Milbrandt had worked around a two-out single by Ethan Hearn in the first and threw a 1-2-3 second. Ariel Armas singled with one out in the third but Beloit’s Jay Besherars, Wilfredo Lara and Brock Vradenburgh teamed up to turn a 6-4-3 double play.
Andy Garriola doubled off Milbrandt to begin the fourth before Hearn lined out to Beshears at short. Cristian Hernadez put runners on the corners with his line-drive single into right and he quickly stole second. Jacob Wetzel popped out to catcher Ignoffo but Jordan Nwogu ensured that South Bend didn’t come away empty handed as he smacked a two-run double into left.
Nwogu swiped third and proceeded to score on a wild pitch by Milbrandt, who then struck out Brian Kalmer to end the fourth.
Milbrandt threw a clean fifth and stranded Garriola, who led off with a single, in the sixth. The righty went six innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits. He struck out eight and didn’t allow a walk.
In the seventh, the Sky Carp’s missed opportunities began.
Ignoffo welcomed Zeglin with a double to left and Kemp Alderman sent a sharply-hit single into right to put runners on the corners with nobody out. But Yiddi Cappe struck out, Vrandenburg popped out to third and Lara lined out to the shortstop without any runs coming across.
Xavier Meachem walked Nwogu to begin the seventh but he picked him off and then struck out back-to-back batters to keep it a one-run game.
Beloit would load the bases but come away without any runs yet again in the eighth. Beshears started off with an infield single before Zeglin got back-to-back outs via a strikeout and pop out. Gage Miller was hit by a pitch and Tyranski relieved Zeglin, but he walked Ignoffo to fill the bags. He rebounded to coax Alderman into a groundout to first.
Meachem worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts to give the Sky Carp a chance, and it looked good as Cappe singled into right and Lara doubled into center field an out later.
Beloit finally struck in the next at-bat as Beshears hit an infield single to third to score Cappe. Rosario replaced Beshears as a pinch runner and stole second before Mark Coley struck out.
Shade kept the rally going with another infield single to third, this one deflecting off Tyranski and scoring Lara to make it 3-2.
Tyranski left with an injury and Jose Romero was brought in. Miller’s ground out to third ended Beloit’s comeback.
Shade, Beshears and Ignoffo all had two hits for the Sky Carp, who outhit the Cubs 9-6. Garriola had a pair of hits for South Bend.
Cappe went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and run scored in his first appearance back with Beloit. The infielder had not played for the Sky Carp since May 31, when an injury knocked him out for over two months. He made six rehab appearances with the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads, going 5-for-23.
Beloit and the Cubs will continue the six-game set on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m.
• BOXSCORE:
SOUTH BEND 3, SKY CARP 2
Beloit 000 000 002 — 2 9 6
S. Bend 000 300 000 — 3 6 0
BELOIT (ab-r-h-rbi) — Shade, cf, 5-0-2-1, Miller, dh, 4-0-0-0, Ignoffo, c, 3-0-2-0, Alderman, rf, 4-0-1-0, Cappe, 3b, 4-1-1-0, Vradenburg, 1b, 4-0-0-0, Lara, 2b, 4-1-1-0, Beshears, ss, 4-0-2-1, Rosario, pr, 0-0-0-0, Coley, lf, 4-0-0-0. Totals: 36-2-9-2.
S. BEND (ab-r-h-rbi) —Ramirez, 3b, 4-0-0-0, Garriola, rf, 4-1-2-0, Hearn, c, 4-0-1-0, Hernandez, ss, 3-1-1-0, Wetzel, cf, 3-0-0-0, Nwogu, lf, 2-1-1-2, Kalmer, 1b, 3-0-0-0, Howard, 2b, 3-0-0-0, Armas, dh, 2-0-1-0. Totals: 28-3-6-2.
DP: Beloit 1, SB 0. PO: Nwogu (1st base by Meachem). SB: Rosario (3), Shade (2), Hernandez (1), Nwogu (18), Garriola (2). CS: Nwogu. 2B: Shade, Ignoffo, Lara, Garriola, Nwogu.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Beloit, Milbrandt (L,1-7,6.0-6-3-3-0-8), Meachem (2.0-0-0-0-2-4). SB, Kipp (W,1-3,6.0-2-0-0-0-4), Zeglin (1.2-3-0-0-0-2), Tyranski (1.0-4-2-2-1-2), Romero (S,6,0.1-0-0-0-0-0).
WP: Milbrandt. HBP: Miller (by Zeglin). T: 2:20. Att: 3,074.
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