CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Beloit scored two runs in the eighth to win game one 3-2 before the Kernels posted their first shutout win of the year, 6-0, in game two to split a doubleheader with the Sky Carp Saturday night.
Game one was scoreless through two innings. In the top of the third, Chase Jaworsky singled and stole second, moving into scoring position for Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, who lifted the Sky Carp in front 1-0 with an RBI single.
That stayed the score until the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Eduardo Tait smashed a game-tying home run to right to pull Kernels even at 1-1.
After a scoreless seventh, the game went to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Carter Johnson lined a single to score the extra-inning runner from second to put Beloit back in front 2-1. After Abrahan Ramirez replaced Johnson on the bases with a fielder’s choice, he scored on a Colby Shade RBI base hit to double the Sky Carp lead to 3-1.
In the bottom of the inning, a Yasser Mercedes RBI double brought the Kernels back within a run at 3-2, but Cedar Rapids could not push across the game-tying run and the Sky Carp held on for the 3-2 victory.
In game two, the Cedar Rapids offense got going right away. Mercedes led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk; after he stole second, he scored on a Dameury Pena RBI single to jump the Kernels in front 1-0. The next batter, Enrique Jimenez, then belted a two-run home run to right to extend the advantage to 3-0.
The Kernels pitching staff took over from there. Justin Mitrovich got the win in his Cedar Rapids debut, allowing just three hits across five scoreless innings. Behind him, Yehizon Sanchez tossed two scoreless frames to lock down the first Cedar Rapids shutout victory of the season.
The Kernels added on in the second. An error and a Rayne Doncon single put runners on the corners, and a wild pitch plated a run to make it 4-0.
In the fifth, singles from Jimenez and Jose Salas, followed by a Graham Brown walk, loaded the bases for Miguel Briceno, who drove in two more with a two-run single to lift the Kernels in front 6-0, the score that would be the final.
The Kernels move to 37-50 on the season and to 6-17 in the second half after the split. The weekend series with the Sky Carp wraps up on Sunday at 1:05 with Michael Ross on the mound opposite Julio Mendez.