The Iowa Cubs (27-33, 57-75) defeated the Columbus Clippers (30-28, 71-61) 4-2 on Thursday evening at Huntington Park.
The game remained scoreless until the seventh inning. With two outs and two strikes in the top of the seventh inning, Ethan Hearn laced a bases clearing double into the right-center field gap to propel the I-Cubs in front 3-0. Kevin Alcantara extended the Iowa lead in the eighth inning with an RBI single.
Columbus hit a pair of back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the eighth inning to cut the Iowa lead to two runs.
After allowing a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ethan Roberts recorded the final three outs to earn the save and preserve the I-Cubs victory.
Five Iowa pitchers combined to throw 8.0 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 11.
The Iowa Cubs continue a six-game series against the Columbus Clippers on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM. You can listen to all Iowa Cubs games on Hope AM 940, 93.7 The Outlaw, and stream every home game for free on the Bally Live App. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.