Quad Cities wins Marathon Saturday in extras 8-7

July 20, 2024 – Midwest League (MWL)
South Bend Cubs Press Release

South Bend, IN – Chicago Cubs No. 19 prospect Jaxon Wiggins made his Midwest League debut on the mound for the South Bend Cubs on Saturday night, a long-awaited arrival in High-A for the 2023 second-round draft pick out of Arkansas. Wiggins impressed, but in a twisting and weaving Saturday night at Four Winds Field, the Quad Cities River Bandits outscored the South Bend Cubs 8-7 in 10 innings.

Wiggins impressed with a fastball consistently in the high 90s, plus a sharp slider and curveball, and a disappearing changeup. South Bend gave him the lead in the second, thanks to a sacrifice-fly RBI by Brian Kalmer.

In his only inning of damage, Wiggins scored three runs in the top of the third. Quad Cities used three singles and a walk to drive in the runs, but South Bend would quickly come back.

A three-spot of their own headlined the end of the 4th inning, with two home on a triple by Jordan Nwogu. Nwogu set up a three-RBI game, with Brian Kalmer having driven in two.

Leading 4-3, South Bend picked up another tally in the 6th on Nwogu’s second run-scoring single. It was a 5-3 game.

From there, South Bend’s bullpen looked sharp in the middle innings. Rehabilitating right-hander Ben Leeper tossed a scoreless inning. Nick Hull threw two shutout frames, Mitchell Tyranski pitched a scoreless 8th, and the Cubs led by two runs in the 9th.

Quad Cities tied the game with two runs in the 9th from Yovanny Cabrera. South Bend had a chance to win in the 9th with the bases loaded, but QC closer Ben Sears was able to save the day. Tied at 5-5, we were ready to go to extra innings.

In the 10th inning, the River Bandits scored three runs for the second time that night, taking a commanding 8-5 lead. South Bend would be resilient and not go down easily. Reivaj Garcia singled to left to score Parker Chavers, and another tally came on a single by Wally Soto.

It was an 8-7 game. South Bend had the tying run at third base and the winning run at first, but the game ended on a groundout. The Cubs came up just short, and the series this weekend is tied at one game apiece.

South Bend still has a chance to win the series on Sunday afternoon when the two teams meet again for first pitch at 2:05 p.m. Right-hander Grant Kipp is the scheduled starter for the Cubs.

• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board…

The opinions expressed in this press release are those of the organization issuing the press release and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.