SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Ivrin Nunez crushed his second high-A home run and finished a triple shy of the cycle while Vahn Lackey recorded three hits, but it was not enough Saturday night in a 7-4 loss at South Bend.
The Cubs opened the scoring Saturday in the bottom of the second inning. Alexey Lumpuy singled to start the inning and stole second in front of Jose Escobar, whose RBI double put South Bend on top 1-0.
In the third, South Bend added on. A Justin Stransky single and a Josiah Hartshorn walk put two runners on for the Cubs. Back-to-back RBI singles from Kade Snell and Angel Cepeda grew the advantage to 3-0.
Cedar Rapids hopped on the board in the top of the fifth. Irvin Nunez ripped a one-out single in front of Yilber Herrera, who scored Nunez with an RBI triple and, on the play, came home to score himself on an error to cut the deficit to 3-2.
That was the closest the Kernels would get. South Bend got a run back in the bottom of the sixth. Lumpuy singled, stole second, stole third and scored on a Logan Poteet RBI hit to make it 4-2.
South Bend blew it open in the bottom of the seventh. A Michael Gupton single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out. A Lumpuy walk, a Matt Halbach single and an Escobar sacrifice fly put the Cubs up 7-2.
The Kernels began to rally back in the eighth. Vahn Lackey singled to start the inning. After he stole second and third, he scored on an Eduardo Tait sacrifice fly to bring Cedar Rapids within four, 7-3.
In the top of the ninth, Nunez lifted a solo home run to start the inning, making it 7-4. With two outs in the frame, a Lackey single and a hit-by-pitch put the tying run at the plate, but South Bend’s JP Wheat got a strikeout to finish off the game and preserve the 7-4 win.
The loss drops the Kernels to 47-82. Cedar Rapids concludes the 2026 season Sunday at 1:05. Kolten Smith gets the start opposite Anhuar Garcia.