Comeback Falls Short as Beloit Beats and Sweeps Cubs 5-4
MWL South Bend Cubs

Comeback Falls Short as Beloit Beats and Sweeps Cubs 5-4

Published on April 6, 2025 under Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


Beloit, WI - The first series of the 2025 season for the South Bend Cubs will go down as a sweep for the opponent. The Beloit Sky Carp won three consecutive games to start this season over South Bend, with both concluding as a final score of 5-4. That was the case on Sunday, in regulation, after the Sky Carp won in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon.

A sweep indeed, but what won't show in the final tally is the comeback effort displayed by South Bend on Sunday. Down 4-0 after just an inning of play, the Cubs clawed their way back into the game thanks to another strong effort from the bullpen.

Luis Rujano got the start, in his Midwest League debut on the mound. Rujano needed 31 pitches to make it through a third of an inning, and after hitting his pitch limit, lefty Angel Hernandez limited the damage by striking out a pair to end the frame and keeping things as a Beloit 4-0 lead.

Hernandez would go on to throw three innings of shutout and no-hit work, keeping the Cubs in it. Also impressing out of the bullpen in the middle innings was Marino Santy, who worked 2.2 innings of work with only a run allowed.

The comeback began for the Cubs to end the 4th inning, when Rafael Morel made a dazzling diving stop at shortstop on a ground ball up the middle. He got up, threw onto first, and robbed Beloit of what would have been a two-run base hit. Instead, the lead for the Sky Carp stayed at 4-0, and Morel was scheduled to lead-off the next inning.

Morel singled to begin that frame, then Ivan Brethowr walked. Brethowr, who went 0/8 in his first two games of the season, reached base four times on Sunday with two base hits and two walks. With two aboard, Cristian Hernandez continued his hot start to the season, with a triple off the center field wall. That plated both runners, and the Cubs sliced the lead in half to 4-2.

Also making his Cubs debut out of the bullpen was flame-throwing righty Kenyi Perez. A scoreless 7th inning, plus two strikeouts, got the Cubs back to the dugout. However, Beloit earlier had gotten one of their runs back from the Hernandez triple, and it was a 5-2 game.

South Bend left two men on base in the 7th, and Hernandez drove a ball to the warning track in left field, which would have been a home run at any other point of the season than in April. If it cleared the wall, it would've tied the game, instead, it was a deep fly out.

In the 8th, Andy Garriola was hit by a pitch to begin the frame, and then Edgar Alvarez worked an 11-pitch at-bat to draw a walk. With two aboard, Drew Bowser walked to load the bases. The next batter was Morel. And for the second straight inning, the Cubs were victims of April baseball, with Morel flying out to the wall in left. It would have been a grand slam, and also would've given South Bend the lead.

Instead, it was a sacrifice fly, and South Bend scraped across a run to make it 5-3. Later in the inning, Ivan Brethowr singled home Alvarez to push things to 5-4. To end the frame, South Bend left the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.

Sam Thoresen worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 8th in his first action of 2025 to keep things close.

In the 9th, the Cubs got the lead-off man aboard, but Beloit would close things out, finishing off the sweep. The Cubs fell to 0-3 on the season, but with many positives to look to.

Next up, it's the home opener as South Bend faces off with the Peoria Chiefs on Tuesday night at 7:05 PM.

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Midwest League Stories from April 6, 2025


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