April 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Louisville Bats
IL Iowa Cubs

April 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Louisville Bats

Published on April 2, 2026 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (2-3) at LOUISVILLE BATS (4-1)

April 2 - 5:35 PM CT - Louisville Slugger Park - Louisville, KY

RHP Javier Assad (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Julian Aguiar (0-0, 0.00)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Louisville Bats are set the play the third of a six-game series tonight at Louisville Slugger Field...right-hander Javier Assad is set to make his second start of the season...right-hander Julian Aguiar is slated to start for the Bats.

BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: The Iowa Cubs got back in the win column win a 12-7 victory over the Louisville Bats last night... Jonathon Long went 1-for-4 with a grand slam and tallied five RBI... Pedro Ramírez went 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and two RBI... Kevin Alcántara, James Triantos and Eric Yang each had two hits... Luke Little earned the win in relief as he worked 1.2 innings and allowed one run on one hit... Connor Noland made his first start of the season and worked 4.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits.

ROSTER RUNDOWN: I n conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs on Friday announced their Opening Day roster... the roster features 16 players with Major League service time and 16 players who have past suited up for Iowa...additionally, the roster features seven players on the Cubs' Top 30 Prospects List according to MLB.com, including RHP Jaxon Wiggins (No. 2), OF Kevin Alcántara (No. 4), INF Jonathon Long (No. 7), INF Pedro Ramírez (No. 9), INF James Triantos (No. 10), OF Brett Bateman (No. 21) and LHP Riley Martin (No. 28).

LONG BALL: Jonathan Long hit the first grand slam for the I-Cubs this season and first since Hayden Cantrelle on Aug. 30, 2025...Long became one of five players in the International League this season to have five RBI game and it marks the most by an I-Cub in a game since Carlos Pérez had five on Sept. 2, 2025.

CRAZY CANTRELLE: Hayden Cantrelle went 3-for-4 with two runs, a double, a home run, three RBI and two stolen bases Tuesday night...he became the first I-Cub to have at least two extra-base hits and two stolen bases in a game since John Andreoli on May 8, 2015 vs. Columbus...marked the first time Cantrelle has accomplished the feat in his career.

ISN'T IT GRAND?: Along with Jonathon Long's grand slam in the second inning, Louisville's Rece Hinds hit hit one in the first inning...it marked the first time each team had hit a grand slam in an I-Cubs game since Aug. 10, 2009 vs. Las Vegas in which Matt Craig (I-Cubs) and Angel Sanchez each did so.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN: Iowa scored 12 runs yesterday and became the third International League team to score at least 12 runs in a game this season along with Worcester and Charlotte...marked the first time the I-Cubs scored at least 12 runs in a game since Sept. 5, 2025 vs. Omaha.

HEARTBREAKER: Tuesday night marked the first time the I-Cubs have lost via a walk-off home run since June 12, 2024 at Columbus (Juan Brito) and their first walk-off loss since Aug. 9, 2025 at St. Paul.

BIG GAME PEDRO: Cubs No. 9 prospect Pedro Ramírez celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday and went 3-for-5 with two runs, a double, two RBI and a stolen base...Pedro is batting .300 (6-for-20) with three runs, two doubles, a home run, five RBI, two walks and two stolen bases.

SPEED KILLS: Justin Dean hit his first home of the season Tuesday night and is slashing .214/.421/.643 this season...his homer marked the first leadoff home run by an I-Cub since Christian Franklin on May 23, 2025 at Columbus...he is one of six players in the International League to score a run in all four straight games this season.

PUNCHIES: The I-Cubs have struck out 57 through four games this season, which is tied for the fourth-most in Triple-A, trailing leaders and tonight's opponent Louisville (65)...Iowa struck out 17 batters Friday night which was tied for the most by any team in the International League with Worcester...marked just the third time Iowa has tallied at least 17 strikeouts since the start of 2025, along with May 16 vs. St. Paul (17) and Sept. 4 vs. Omaha (17).

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from April 2, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central