By MIKE MONACO

SOUTH BEND — South Bend mounted two comebacks but could not construct a third, dropping the rubber game against Great Lakes, 4-3, on a warm Wednesday at Four Winds Field.

The Cubs (14-13) climbed ahead 2-1 in the fifth and pulled even at 3-3 in the eighth, but the Loons (12-12) netted the go-ahead run in the ninth and took the three-game series.

South Bend starting pitcher Erick Leal (3-0, 2.45 ERA) tossed 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits while fanning four. Right-hander David Garner relieved Leal with two outs and a man at second in the sixth, and the Niles, Michigan, native whipped in a breaking ball for a backwards K to end the threat and keep the game tied 2-2. Loons lefty Victor Gonzalez (5.1 innings pitched, two runs) posted his longest outing of the season.

Cubs left fielder Charcer Burks tallied three hits and two stolen bases from atop the South Bend order. The 20-year old from Houston is now batting .341 and has notched nine multi-hit games.

Both Leal and Gonzalez started strong, as the first base-runner for either side reached in the top of the third, when Loons designated hitter Justin Chigbogu worked a one-out walk. Chigbogu attempted to swipe second and was promptly pegged at second by Cubs catcher Cael Brockmeyer.

Great Lakes shortstop Faustino Oguisten provided the first hit of the contest with a floating line drive into center field with one out in the top of the fourth. Oguisten advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an RBI double by first baseman Josmar Cordero, as the Loons grabbed a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs countered with their first hit of the morning in the home half of the fourth inning, as Burks slapped a single to center. South Bend evened the score, 1-1, in the bottom of the fifth. Third baseman Jesse Hodges ripped a double to left-center field with one out, and he scored on an RBI triple to the right-center gap by second baseman David Bote. First baseman Gioskar Amaya then followed with an RBI base knock past the drawn-in Great Lakes defense, as the Cubs snatched the 2-1 lead.

Oguisten barely beat out an infield single to begin the sixth. Two batters later, Cordero rapped another RBI double into the left-field corner to reel in Oguisten and tie the game at 2-2.

Loons left fielder Jacob Scavuzzo crushed the first pitch of the seventh inning over the left-field bleachers to propel Great Lakes up 3-2.

Burks made a leaping grab up against the left-field wall for the first out of the eighth inning, his second such web gem of the homestand. Burks finished the inning with a diving catch on a fast-sinking fly ball.

Burks then led off the last of the eighth with a single and two stolen bases. He scored the game-tying run on an error by Oguisten, pulling South Bend even, 3-3.

But Great Lakes found an answer in the ninth. Scavuzzo bounced a triple to the right-field corner, and second baseman Jimmy Allen smacked the decisive RBI single to lift Great Lakes to a 4-3 margin that held up.

South Bend hits the road for a three-game series against Bowling Green that starts Thursday at 7:35 p.m. ET at Bowling Green Ballpark. Cubs right-hander Zach Hedges (1-1, 3.43 ERA) will oppose Hot Rods righty Henry Centeno (1-0, 3.32 ERA).