Kernels Erupt for 11 Runs, Best Cubs 11-7

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Kernels followed up an eight-run performance with 11 runs Saturday night in an 11-7 victory over South Bend.

Adrian Bohorquez got the start for Cedar Rapids and was strong out of the gates. The right-hander did not allow a run on two hits and struck out five across 2.2 innings of work.

In the bottom half of the fourth, the Kernels opened the scoring. Eduardo Tait singled to begin the inning and scored from first a batter later on an Enrique Jimenez RBI double to put Cedar Rapids in front 1-0. Two batters later, Danny De Andrade doubled the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single.

In the fifth, Cedar Rapids added on. A Dameury Pena single put a two-out base runner on for Yasser Mercedes, who posted the first of three two-out RBI doubles in the inning. After two-out RBI doubles from Tait and Henry Kusiak followed, the Kernels took a 5-0 lead.

But the Cubs rallied back. In the top of the sixth, Kane Kepley singled in front of Jose Escobar, who drove him in with an RBI double. The next batter, Angel Cepeda, then brought South Bend within two at 5-3 with a two-run home run.

In the top of the seventh, a Michael Hallquist double followed by a pair of walks loaded the bases. An Escobar sacrifice fly cut the Cedar Rapids lead to 5-4 before a double steal of second and home tied the game at 5-5. With a runner still on second, a Matt Halbach RBI single jumped the Cubs in front 6-5.

In the bottom of the inning, the Kernels responded. An error and two walks loaded the bases for Danny De Andrade, who plated two with a two-run double to reclaim the lead, 7-6. The next batter, Jose Salas, then crushed his second home run in as many nights, a three-run shot to right to grow the lead back to 10-6. With two outs in the inning, Graham Brown singled, and after an error moved him to second, a Mercedes RBI single drove him in to push the lead to 11-6.

South Bend got a run back in the top of the eighth, but it was not enough in the 11-7 Cedar Rapids win.

The victory improves the Kernels to 4-15 in the second half of the season and to 35-48 overall. The series with the Cubs concludes Sunday at 1:05. Dasan Hill gets the start, and the South Bend starter is TBD.