Lugnuts Steal 7-6 Walk-Off Win from Cubs in 10 Innings

Sports stats



MWL South Bend Cubs

Lugnuts Steal 7-6 Walk-Off Win from Cubs in 10 Innings

May 13, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


Lansing, MI - A back-and-forth series opener at Jackson Field went the way of the Lansing Lugnuts on Tuesday evening. Overcoming deficits of 3-1 and 6-4, the Lugnuts walked off the South Bend Cubs on a 10th-inning single from left fielder Rodney Green Jr. to win 7-6. The Cubs remain snakebit on the road at 1-15 away from home and 9-25 overall, while the Lugnuts are 19-15 heading into game two of the series.

Right-hander Tyler Schlaffer made the start for South Bend, turning in five innings of three-run baseball to bounce back from a couple of rough outings. The Lugnuts scored first against him in the top of the second, turning a leadoff double from baseman T.J. Schofield-Sam into a run via a groundout. South Bend would answer back against Lansing starter Corey Avant in the top of the third, scoring three runs. Shortstop Cristian Hernandez (9-game hit streak) and second baseman Jefferson Rojas (14-game on-base streak) each singled to set the table for center fielder Andy Garriola, who doubled to tie the game. Catcher Miguel Pabon then whacked another two-bagger to center field, driving in two more to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

Garriola started the bottom of the fourth inning with a phenomenal catch, sprinting deep into the right-center gap and sliding on the warning track. However, Lansing tied the game only a few batters later, as catcher Cole Conn cranked a two-run home run to right field. After Schlaffer departed, left-hander Marino Santy took over for the bottom of the sixth and surrendered a go-ahead home run to the first hitter he faced, designated hitter Clark Elliott. With that, the Lugnuts led by a 4-3 score after six.

The Cubs answered right back, though, cultivating a two-out rally in the top of the seventh. Singles from Rojas and Pabon gave left fielder Reginald Preciado a chance to hit with multiple runners on base, and he delivered. His double to left-center put the Cubs back in front, as Pabon scored the go-ahead run from first base on an aggressive and ultimately wise send from manager and third-base coach Nick Lovullo. South Bend added another run in the top of the eighth, going up 6-4 on a double from third baseman Reivaj Garcia and an RBI single from right fielder Ivan Brethowr.

All the while, Cubs relievers were trending toward a closeout of the Lugnuts in the late innings. Despite fighting his command in the bottom of the seventh, Santy induced an inning-ending double play to strand the tying run in scoring position. Right-hander Joe Nahas then worked around a one-out double in the eighth and returned to aim for a six-out save in the ninth.

It's worth mentioning here that the Cubs, in a 10-inning game, did not strike out a single batter. They got all 29 of their outs on balls put in play, and that came back to bite them down the stretch. Nahas swiftly recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth before getting to two strikes against three consecutive last-chance Lansing hitters. All three of them, however, found a way to get on base via a hit. After third baseman Sahid Valenzuela singled, pinch hitter Nate Nankil blooped a double between Rojas and Brethowr in shallow right field, bringing up shortstop and Athletics No. 10 prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer with the tying run at second. Kuroda-Grauer didn't hit the ball hard, but he got the job done, dunking a score-leveling double into right field.

South Bend hit first in the top of the 10th inning but could not move the automatic placement runner from second. Winning pitcher Max Adamiak entered the game for Lansing and struck out two before getting a flyout to seal a scoreless half-inning. The Lugnuts then came up needing only to score their automatic placement runner to win that game. Reliever Sam Thoresen got to two outs with that runner still on the basepaths, but another two-strike hit, this one a hard-hit single off the bat of Green Jr., won the game for Lansing.

Rojas led the Cubs offensively with three hits, while Pabon and Preciado each collected a pair of runs batted in. Schofield-Sam finished as the only Lugnut with multiple hits, doubling two times. South Bend and Lansing will square off again at 11:05 AM on Wednesday, as left-hander Evan Aschenbeck will pitch for the Cubs against Steven Echavarria.

Check out the South Bend Cubs Statistics



Midwest League Stories from May 13, 2025


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