Quad Cities Drops Series-Clincher in South Bend

South Bend, Indiana – The Quad Cities River Bandits (31-39, 1-6) lost the fourth of their first five games against the South Bend Cubs (44-26, 5-3) this week and fell to a season-low eight games under five hundred after an 11-1 defeat Saturday night at Four Winds Field.

Erick Torres broke up South Bend’s shutout bid with an RBI-single in the top of the ninth, but Quad Cities failed to record an extra-base hit and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while South Bend scored runs in five-straight innings.

River Bandits’ starter Blake Wolters began his eighth High-A appearance with back-to-back scoreless frames, but saw South Bend jump ahead 3-0 in the third, as Kane Kepley’s RBI-triple was followed by RBI-singles from Josiah Hartshorn and Jose Escobar.

A wild pitch on a dropped third strike allowed Miguel Useche to score in the fourth before Escobar launched a two-run homer in the fifth to put the Cubs up 6-0 and knock Wolters out of the game after a 4.1-inning start.

After allowing a single to Justin Stransky, Yimi Presinal struck out Useche for the second out of the frame, but then surrounded a two-run blast to Drew Bower.

South Bend worked ahead 9-0 in the sixth, stringing together four-straight two-out baserunners against LP Langevin, including a bases-loaded walk from Useche.

A two-run RBI-single off the bat of Angel Cepeda gave South Bend its 11-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh against Cory Ronan.

Nick Conte was the only Quad Cities pitcher to post a zero on the night, completing a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

Cubs’ right-hander Jaxon Wiggins twirled 3.2-shutout innings and struck out four during his Triple-A rehabilitation start, before handing the ball to the bullpen. Adam Stone (4-1) earned the win, helping Wiggins complete the fourth and tossing a clean fifth.

Ethan Flanagan (3) surrendered Torres’s run-scoring knock with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but secured a 4.0-inning save with four strikeouts.

Wolters (0-6), was saddled with the loss for Quad Cities, allowing six runs on five hits, four walks, and four strikeouts.

The River Bandits return to Four Winds Field for the finale of the six-game series against the Cubs tomorrow afternoon and send Tanner Jones (2-4, 5.81) to the mound opposite Alfredo Romero (2-2, 5.79). First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. ET.