CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Cedar Rapids followed up a 23-run performance Saturday with 19 runs on 20 hits and seven home runs Tuesday night, erasing a five-run deficit in a 19-12 win over Beloit.
The Sky Carp started the offensive barrage in the top of the first inning. A single and a walk put two on for Starlyn Caba, who opened the scoring with a three-run home run to right to put Beloit on top 3-0.
Cedar Rapids struck back in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Walker Jenkins blasted a solo home run to right to put the Kernels on the board. Two batters later, Eduardo Tait followed suit with a homer to right to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Beloit gained separation in the top of the second. A single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk filled the bases for Emilio Barreras, who smashed a grand slam to make it 7-2 Sky Carp.
The Kernels punched back in the bottom of the third. A Danny De Andrade hit-by-pitch and a Marek Houston walk put two on for Brandon Winokur, who drove in a run with an RBI single. With two still on base, Tait blasted his second home run of the night to pull Cedar Rapids within one at 7-6.
The Sky Carp grew the lead back to three in the fifth. Wilson Webber lined a two-out double in front of Cam Clayton, who lifted a two-run homer to left to make it 10-7 Sky Carp.
The Kernels rallied to take the lead from there. First, in the bottom of the fifth, an Enrique Jimenez solo shot to right-center made it a 10-8 game. The next batter, Jay Thomason, singled in front of Caden Kendle, who bashed a two-run home run to left in his first back off the IL to lessen the Beloit lead to 10-9.
Then, in the sixth, a Jenkins single and a Winokur walk put two on for Thomason, who tied the game, 10-10, with an RBI single. With runners now on the corners, Kendle put Cedar Rapids on top 11-10 with a sacrifice fly.
Beloit took its final lead of the game in the top of the seventh. Webber singled ahead of Clayton, who drove him in again with another two-run home run to leap the Sky Carp in from 12-11.
But that was the end of the Sky Carp scoring on the night. In the bottom of the inning, the Kernels pulled even. A hit-by-pitch and a walk put two on for Tait, who tied the game, 12-12, with an RBI single.
Cedar Rapids blew it open in the eighth. The Kernels sent 12 to the plate in the inning, jumped in front 13-12 on a Kendle RBI single, 14-12 on a Houston RBI hit and 16-12 on a Graham Brown three-run home run. Jimenez also crushed his second home run of the night in the inning to help Cedar Rapids take a 19-12 lead, the score that would be the final.
The win improves the Kernels to 30-32 on the season and to 4-3 this season against Beloit. The six-game series with the Sky Carp continues Wednesday at 12:05 with Riley Quick on the mound opposite Joey Volini.