Bowling Green Consistent In Win Over Cubs
SOUTH BEND – Bowling Green scored multiple runs in four different innings and posted its best offensive performance of the season with a 12-8 win over South Bend in the series finale at Four Winds Field on Monday afternoon.
The Hot Rods (26-19) earned a series split despite a late surge from the Cubs (20-25), who punched across four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
South Bend shortstop Gleyber Torres (3-for-5, three singles, two RBI), designated hitter Gioskar Amaya (3-for-5, three singles, one run) and catcher Cael Brockmeyer (2-for-3, three-run home run, hit by pitch) paced the offense, which produced 15 hits. But Bowling Green tagged South Bend pitching for 13 hits, six of which came from the top three hitters in the order: center fielder Thomas Milone, second baseman Riley Unroe and third baseman Coty Blanchard.
After a 33-minute rain delay, Bowling Green made up for lost time by nabbing two runs in the first. Unroe coaxed a one-out walk, and Blanchard smashed a line-drive home run to left.
The Cubs countered in the bottom of the first with three consecutive singles from Torres, Amaya and Brockmeyer. With the bases loaded and one out, first baseman Yasiel Balaguert laced a run-scoring lineout to center to score Torres and make it 2-1 Bowling Green.
South Bend third baseman Jesse Hodges then tied the game by launching a solo home run to left field to start the last of the second. After center fielder Rashad Crawford floated a single to left field and left fielder Charcer Burks doubled, Torres shot a 2-2 pitch to right field for a two-run single, his second such hit in as many days, pushing South Bend ahead 4-2.
Bowling Green loaded the bases in the third and cleared them on a pop-up to shallow right field that the South Bend defense could not handle. Left fielder Bralin Jackson then scalded an RBI double to left-center field, handing Bowling Green a 6-4 advantage.
The Hot Rods widened the margin to 7-4 with three consecutive singles to begin the fourth. A sacrifice fly from right fielder Justin Williams made it 8-4. Bowling Green kept pouring it on with an RBI single by catcher Mac James.
The Hot Rods tacked on a 10th run in the sixth on a third South Bend error. Leadoff hitter Thomas Milone’s RBI double in the seventh gave Bowling Green a season-high 11 runs. Unroe added an RBI single to crack open a 12-4 margin.
South Bend stirred in the seventh with back-to-back singles to start it from Torres and Amaya. Brockmeyer then blasted a three-run shot to pull South Bend within five, 12-7. Four batters later, Cubs right fielder Jeffrey Baez slapped an RBI double to trim the deficit to four.
South Bend starter Erick Leal allowed nine runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks in four innings.
With three hits, the 18-year old Torres tallied his 16th multi-hit performance this season.
South Bend embarks on a seven-game road trip beginning Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET against Dayton at Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio. Cubs right-hander Zach Hedges (2-3, 4.62 ERA) is set to oppose Dragons lefty Seth Varner (4-3, 3.45 ERA).