South Bend, IN: After their record jumped above .500 with a win over the Lansing Lugnuts yesterday, the South Bend Cubs had an opportunity at a series win this afternoon from Four Winds Field. After jumping to an early 2-1 lead after the second inning, South Bend failed to hold on and ultimately lost the game 4-2.
With left hander Brendon Little on the mound in search of his first professional win, the Cubs gave Little the run support early, but two home runs hit by Lansing DH Christian Williams in the 2nd and 4th innings gave the Lugnuts what they needed to win the game. Williams finished 2-4 with his two home runs. His second long ball ended up being the game winning hit.
As a team, Lansing hits lefties at an extremely high efficiency. With a team batting average against lefties at .302, Lansing saw the ball well off of Little today despite the southpaw working two 1-2-3 innings. Little took the loss and is now 0-1 on the season.
For the Cubs, they did all their damage against the Lugnuts early on in the game. With two runs scored in the 2nd inning to take their only lead of the game, the bats quieted down as the game reached the late innings. After the 2nd frame, the Cubs managed just four hits.
South Bend’s bullpen continued to pitch well through this weekend. After Little’s 4.2 innings, right hander Rollie Lacy came in to settle things down with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief and two strikeouts. Ben Hecht tossed a shutout inning of his own to give the Cubs a chance to come back in the game.
In the 9th, South bend received a single from DH Miguel Amaya. Amaya reached second on a ground ball hit by Christian Donahue, however the Cubs were not able to bring him home after Lansing closer Ty Tice struck out Rafael Narea and Zach Davis to end the game.
The Cubs are now back to .500 on the year with a 7-7 record and have now lost four of their last five games. South Bend finishes the home stand this weekend 1-2 and will now leave for Bowling Green for a four game road trip to face the Hot Rods. First pitch on Monday from Bowling Green is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
