The South Bend Cubs (60-37) became the first 2026 Midwest League team to 60 wins on Saturday night at Classic Auto Group Park, thumping the Lake County Captains (53-44) by a 10-3 score. South Bend has won four consecutive games and series, maintaining the top run differential in all of Minor League Baseball at +174.
Click here to view Saturday’s box score.
Both offenses produced in the early innings, the Cubs doing so first against Lake County left-hander Harrison Bodendorf. Four consecutive Cubs singled in the top of the first inning, with third baseman Matt Halbach’s base hit through the left side driving in the opening run. First baseman Michael Carico’s double led off a two-run second inning, as second baseman Michael Hallquist sent a towering two-run home run to left-center field. The Cubs’ fourth run scored in a 36-pitch third inning on designated hitter Kane Kepley’s bases-loaded walk. Bodendorf could only complete those three innings for Lake County, needing 85 total pitches to grind through them.
The Captains hung with the Cubs early on, tagging South Bend starter Alfredo Romero for a pair of runs in 3.2 innings. Romero, who had walked a total of five batters in his previous five starts, issued five walks on Saturday alone, giving Lake County plenty of early opportunities. His leadoff walk in the first inning led to a run, as shortstop Welbyn Francisca tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field. Center fielder Esteban Gonzalez then cracked a home run to start the bottom of the second, pulling the Captains within a 3-2 score on his solo shot to right field.
Immediately after providing a run with his bat, Gonzalez saved three with his glove just after the Cubs had taken a 4-2 lead in the top of the third. With two outs and the bases loaded, he tracked down a line drive from shortstop Angel Cepeda in the left-center gap, diving to deny a bases-clearing hit. The Cubs would leave the bases loaded again in the fourth, stranding eight runners in the game’s first four innings.
Each team scored in the fifth inning, the Cubs doing so on another Hallquist blast. The nine-hole hitter completed the first multi-homer game of his Minor League career on the first pitch of the frame, cranking a solo shot to left field. Hallquist doubled his season home run count in Saturday’s game, bringing it to four in a month with South Bend. A leadoff double from designated hitter Jonah Advincula helped the Captains answer and stay within a 5-3 margin, as he came around to score on a fielder’s choice.
The Cubs pulled away across the next two innings, grabbing four runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Fueled by three walks, South Bend batted around in the sixth, getting RBI doubles from Carico and Cepeda, who finished the night with three hits. In between their two-baggers, right fielder Geuri Lubo reached on an infield single that created two runs, as a Lake County throwing error allowed both runners in scoring position to cross the plate. Lubo notched another RBI single in the seventh, bringing the Cubs to 10 runs.
With their 17 hits and 11 walks from Saturday’s game, the Cubs have, through five games against Lake County, 61 hits and 50 walks for the series. Each of those numbers, along with their 14 home runs, ranks within the top five of Minor League Baseball for this week. In Saturday’s ninth inning, the Cubs went down in the order for the first time since the fifth inning on Wednesday afternoon, snapping a streak of 17 consecutive multi-baserunner innings for South Bend.
On the mound, reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week Jackson Brockett was as advertised, earning his seventh High-A with 3.0 hitless innings. After walking two in the bottom of the sixth, the left-hander retired eight consecutive Captains, striking out five along the way. Right-hander Luis Rujano ended the game with a scoreless ninth, pitching in and out of a bases-loaded situation.
The Cubs will go for back-to-back 5-1 series wins at 1:00 PM on Sunday, August 2. Left-hander Pierce Coppola is scheduled to start for South Bend against Lake County right-hander Jacob Zibin, who started against the Cubs back on Tuesday.