CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Kernels struck for 11 runs on 14 hits but could not overcome a Sky Carp seven-run third inning in a 15-11 loss Sunday afternoon.
Beloit opened the scoring before making an out. Starlyn Caba doubled to begin the top of the first and scored a batter later on an error to make it 1-0. The next batter, Jesus Sanchez, then doubled the Sky Carp lead to 2-0 with an RBI single.
Cedar Rapids hopped on the board in the bottom of the second. Miguel Briceno worked a one-out walk, and after an error moved him to third, Yasser Mercedes brought him in with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1.
But that was the closest the Kernels would get. In the top of the third, the Sky Carp sent 12 batters to the plate and erupted for seven runs to grab a 9-2 lead.
They added on in the fourth. A Colby Shade solo home run upped the Beloit advantage to 10-2.
The Kernels began to chip away in the bottom of the third. Graham Brown led off the inning with a solo home run to make it 10-3. After him, four consecutive singles from Briceno, Andy Lugo, Rayne Doncon and Mercedes combined to plate two more runs to bring Cedar Rapids back within six, 10-4.
In the top of the sixth, a one-out walk put a Sky Carp runner on base for Shade, who drove in another run with an RBI triple. A batter later, he scored on a sacrifice fly to push the Beloit lead to 12-4.
Cedar Rapids responded again in the bottom of the inning. A Briceno single and a Lugo walk put two runners on for Mercedes, who collected his third RBI hit of the game with a run-scoring double. After a second run in the inning scored on a wild pitch, a third run came home on an Eduardo Tait RBI double to make it 12-7.
The Beloit offense kept coming. The Sky Carp scored two more runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth to climb in front 15-7.
That was the score going to the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs in the inning, a Briceno single loaded the bases after two walks for Lugo, who crushed a grand slam to left to make it a four-run game at 15-11. But the comeback effort fell short there; Beloit got the final out of the game and hung on to the win in the series finale.
The loss drops the Kernels to 37-51 on the season as they go 2-2 across the weekend against Beloit. Cedar Rapids hits the road next week to start a six-game series in Dayton beginning Tuesday at 6:05. David Lorduy gets the start for the Dragons opposite a Cedar Rapids starter TBD.