Cubs and Sky Carp Level Series on 5-2 Beloit Victory

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Cubs and Sky Carp Level Series on 5-2 Beloit Victory

April 25, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


South Bend, IN - After the South Bend Cubs claimed the first two games of this week's series, the Beloit Sky Carp have pitched their way to an even set. Following the lead of starting pitcher Thomas White, the No. 1 Marlins prospect and the 38th-ranked Major League Baseball prospect, the Sky Carp secured a 5-2 win at Four Winds Field on Friday night. The Cubs, who recorded only two hits after being one-hit on Thursday, struggled to an 0-for-9 mark with runners in scoring position. South Bend and Beloit now own respective records of 6-13 and 8-10 for the season.

Starting with a 21-minute delay on the heels of a rain-soaked afternoon, Friday's game mirrored Thursday's in terms of having minimal scoring. Thomas White set the pace with five crisp innings as the Beloit starting pitcher, retiring 15 of the first 16 Cubs he faced. The left-hander struck out seven, allowing only one baserunner in his first five frames on an infield single by shortstop Cristian Hernandez. The slow-roller gave Hernandez a team-high six-game hit streak.

Opposite White, South Bend starter Nick Dean opened the game just as effectively. The right-hander went six-up, six-down on only 21 pitches in the first two innings. He'd finish with two runs allowed (one of them unearned) in four innings, punching out five. Both runs against him came home in the third inning, when Beloit put center fielder Colby Shade on third with nobody out. The two hitters behind him both struck out, though, giving Dean a chance to escape the inning unscathed. Left fielder Fenwick Trimble negated that opportunity, doubling to drive in the night's first run before an error led to a second Sky Carp run.

After Dean finished off his fourth and final inning, right-hander Connor Schultz checked in and handled the next two frames. He put together a scoreless fifth before surrendering Beloit's third run in the sixth. In that inning, Schultz walked each of the first two hitters he faced, setting up Shade to single through a drawn-in infield and plate a teammate. Beloit still had the bases loaded with nobody out after that point, but a diving catch by Hernandez and a Schultz strikeout kept the Cubs within a 3-0 score as the half-inning ended.

South Bend finally got to White in the bottom of that sixth inning, with the bottom of the order working back-to-back walks. Each of those hitters promptly advanced into scoring position on a balk, allowing Hernandez to put the Cubs on the board with a sacrifice fly. White then exited the game responsible for runners on the corners, as the Cubs brought dangerous hitters Andy Garriola and Carter Trice to the dish. Neither of them could come through against reliever Gabe Bierman, though, keeping Beloit in a 3-1 lead through six.

Cub right-hander Yovanny Cabrera kept South Bend right in the thick of things down the stretch. Cabrera, despite issuing leadoff walks in both the seventh and eighth innings, held the Sky Carp scoreless. Along the way, he got some help from second baseman Reivaj Garcia, who turned a double play to wrap up the top of the seventh. The Cubs capitalized on that seventh-inning momentum with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, again doing so without recording a hit. First baseman Brian Kalmer walked with two outs, advanced on a balk, and touched the plate on a Beloit infield error. Later in the inning, third baseman Drew Bowser stole his second and third bases of the game, but South Bend again left runners on the corners.

Beloit finally made the Cubs pay for their missed opportunities in the top of the ninth. Working against right-hander Kenyi Perez, the Sky Carp scored a pair of runs after Perez started the inning with consecutive strikeouts. The two hitters he walked on the heels of that fast start both came in on designated hitter Ryan Ignoffo's double into the left-field corner. Ignoffo now has seven runs batted in on four extra-base hits in the series.

Sky Carp left-hander Justin Storm closed out the Cubs across the game's final two innings, working around a leadoff walk right out of the gate. South Bend then batted the tying run despite being behind three in the bottom of the ninth, but center fielder Rafael Morel popped out before Hernandez grounded out to turn the lights out.

Game five of the series will get started at 4:05 PM on Saturday, featuring a probable pitching matchup of Beloit's Jake Brooks and South Bend's Ryan Gallagher.

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