Beloit, Wisconsin – The Quad Cities (44-43, 14-10) scored three runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning Tuesday, but their four-game win streak ended in an 8-5 loss to the Beloit Sky Carp (43-47, 16-9) at ABC Supply Stadium.
Quad Cities fell behind early in the series-opener, with Beloit brining all nine batters to the plate and scoring five times in the first inning against starter Jordan Woods. After Jesus Hernandez drove in the game’s first run on a groundout, Emilio Barreras singled in Carter Johnson. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart landed the big blow, blasting the Sky Carp ahead 5-0 with a three-run homer.
Woods would not return for the second, allowing five runs on six hits, no walks, and one strikeout.
An RBI-groundout off the bat of Trevor Werner got the Bandits into the run column against Liomar Martinez in the second, but Wilfredo Lara’s two-run homer off Mason Miller in the third put Beloit up 7-1.
Miller worked scorelessly over the remainder of his 3.0-inning outing, while Hayden Cuthbertson relieved Martienz after the Beloit right-hander struck out a game-high seven over 3.1 innings.
A clean fifth and sixth innings from Quad Cities reliever Nick Conte helped stabilize the Bandits’ deficit for Blake Mitchell, who plated a two-out run with an RBI-single in the seventh against Michael Perez.
Wilson Weber responded for the Sky Carp in the very next inning, launching his first home run of the season off Yimi Presinal for an 8-2 Beloit lead.
After Justin Storm quieted the Bandits in order in the eighth, Quad Cities rallied against the Midwest League veteran in the ninth, opening the frame with three-straight hits, including an RBI-single from Nolan Sailors.
Storm struck out Asbel Gonzalez and Mitchell to bring Beloit within an out of victory, but after hitting Jose Cerice with a pitch and allowing a pair of tallies on Derlin Figueroa’s RBI-single, Quad Cities had runners on second and third in a three-run game.
Two pitches later, the Bandits’ surge stalled, as Storm got Erick Torres to ground out and seal Quad Cities’ fate.
Cuthbertson (3-1) worked a scoreless 1.2-innings out of Beloit’s bullpen to earn the win, while Woods (0-2) was tagged with his second loss of the season for the River Bandits.
Quad Cities returns to ABC Supply Stadium for game two of the six-game set tomorrow afternoon and sends Tanner Jones (3-5, 5.48) to the mound opposite Sky Carp southpaw Brayan Mendoza (3-3, 5.82). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.