South Bend Holds on Late, Defeats Beloit 4-2
MWL South Bend Cubs

South Bend Holds on Late, Defeats Beloit 4-2

Published on August 13, 2025 under Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs News Release


Beloit, WI - After being swept on opening weekend at the hands of the Beloit Sky Carp at ABC Supply Stadium in April, and then again in the three games following the All-Star Break at Four Winds Field in July, the South Bend Cubs got some revenge on Tuesday night. In game one of six this week in Beloit, the Cubs doubled-up the Sky Carp 4-2, and with the victory have jumped to just one game back of Beloit's first place lead in the Midwest League West Division.

Right-hander Connor Schultz got the start for the Cubs, pitching for the third time this season against Beloit, but in his first start. Righty Karson Milbrandt got the ball for Beloit, making his fifth career start against South Bend. Milbrandt also made his Midwest League debut versus South Bend in 2023.

Both starters hung zeroes in their first two innings, but Beloit scored the game's first run in the bottom of the 3rd, thanks to a sacrifice-fly RBI from shortstop Aiva Arquette. Arquette was the number-seven overall pick by the Miami Marlins in this year's MLB Draft.

That would be all that Schultz would surrender, and he wrapped up his start with five innings of one-run baseball with five strikeouts. Schultz also got the help of his left fielder Kade Snell in the 5th, who leaped up at the left field wall to rob a potential home run away from Wilfredo Lara. That kept the deficit at a single run for South Bend.

The Cubs left the bases loaded in the top of the 3rd, and at one point in the game were 0/8 with runners in scoring position. That all changed once Milbrandt left, after 5.2 innings of work. Facing righty Xavier Meachem as the first man out of the bullpen, South Bend loaded the bases against him in the top of the 7th, and tied the game thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded. With runners at second and third base, Edgar Alvarez stepped up and singled in two runs for a 3-1 lead.

Later in the 8th, Chris Paciolla picked up a lead-off walk, and then was brought home by a Rafael Morel double. Morel had three hits in the game, with was his first three-hit night since April 19 at West Michigan. Oddly enough, South Bend left the bags loaded in both the 7th and 8th, but led by multiple runs heading to the 9th.

The lead was protected at the time by scoreless innings from Yency Almonte, Cole Reynolds, and Luis Martinez-Gomez out of the bullpen. For Almonte, it was the fifth game of the Big League right-hander's rehab assignment. He has pitched seven total scoreless innings.

In the 9th, Kenyi Perez came on for the save, on a consecutive scoreless innings streak of 9.1 frames without giving up a run. Perez hadn't given up a tally since July 4. However, the Cubs right-hander walked three batters, and gave up a single to Wilson Weber to cut the Cubs lead to 4-2. Beloit had the bases loaded with nobody out. The tying run was at second, and the winning run was at first.

South Bend made a pitching change, and Jackson Kirkpatrick came on. In the daunting task, Kirkpatrick struck out Micah McDowell for the first out, and then faced Lara with the bases juiced. Lara chopped a ball to shortstop, where Cristian Hernandez fielded, flipped to second, and Drew Bowser threw back to first for a game-ending double play. 6-4-3.

The Cubs survived, and took the all important game one of the series. With the victory, South Bend is 23-19 in the second half, and will be just one game back of first place held by Beloit on Wednesday. The Cubs also hold sole possession of second place, with Quad Cities losing to Cedar Rapids on Tuesday night too.

First pitch on Wednesday night at ABC Supply Stadium is set for 7:05 PM EST. Righty Erian Rodriguez gets the start of the Cubs, with Marlins number-10 prospect and 2023 first-round pick Noble Meyer pitching for Beloit.

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Midwest League Stories from August 13, 2025


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