Cubs Best Kernels 7-5 in Ten Innings

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - South Bend scored two runs to tie the game in the seventh and two more in the tenth to win it in a 7-5 victory over Cedar Rapids Tuesday night.

Xavier Kolhosser got the start in the series opener on the mound and was really sharp through three innings. The right-hander did not allow a run or a walk and picked up a strikeout across three scoreless frames.

With the game scoreless in the bottom of the third, the Kernels got on the board first. Henry Kusiak ripped a two-out double off the centerfield wall and scored a batter later on a Yasser Mercedes RBI single to lift Cedar Rapids ahead 1-0.

South Bend responded in the top of the fifth. A Christian Olivo single and a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position for Josiah Hartshorn, who tied the game, 1-1, with an RBI single. After the next batter, Jose Escobar, doubled, an Angel Cepeda sacrifice fly and a Matt Halbach RBI single put the Cubs in front 3-1.

The Cedar Rapids response came quick. In the bottom of the inning, walks to Dameury Pena and Jose Salas put two on for Rayne Doncon, who made it 3-2 with an RBI single. The next batter, Kusiak, tied the game with an RBI hit before a Jacob McCombs two-run single put the Kernels back in front 5-3.

The Cubs pulled even in the seventh. A Cepeda single and a Halbach double put two on for Miguel Useche, who cut it to a one-run deficit, 5-4, with an RBI single. Three batters later, Olivo tied the game at 5-5 with a sac fly.

That stayed the score through nine innings. Cedar Rapids had two runners on with less than two outs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but could not plate the game-tying run, sending the game to extras.

In the top of the tenth, the extra-inning rule runner stole third for South Bend, and on an error on the play, he came home to score to put the Cubs back in front 6-5. Three batters later, Hartshorn smashed a solo home run to double the lead to 7-5.

The Kernels went down in order in the bottom of the tenth, and the Cubs hung on to the 7-5 win.

The loss drops the Kernels to 33-46 on the season and to 2-13 in the second half. The six-game series with South Bend continues Wednesday at 12:05 with Riley Quick on the mound opposite Nazier Mulé.