By Mike Monaco

BURLINGTON, Iowa — Burlington overcame a three-run deficit to tie the game in the seventh inning and walked off in the eighth to complete the series sweep of South Bend, 6-5, in game two of the doubleheader Friday night at Community Field, a twin bill of seven-inning contests.

For the first 3.2 innings in game one of the doubleheader and the first five innings in game two, South Bend didn’t record a hit. But the Cubs (26-33) broke out for five runs on six hits in the sixth inning to construct a 5-2 lead in the nightcap.

The Bees (31-30), however, netted two runs in the sixth and a game-tying tally in the seventh before walking off with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The Cubs have lost four consecutive games.

South Bend starting pitcher Jake Stinnett allowed three earned runs (four total) in five-plus innings. The right-hander struck out three, walked two and hit two.

The Cubs coaxed five walks in the first two innings but left the bases loaded in the second and came away scoreless from both frames.

Burlington starter Garrett Nuss did not allow a hit in three innings of work. He fanned five and also walked five without allowing a run.

The Bees snapped a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. After center fielder Miguel Hermosillo reached on an error to start the stanza, Burlington loaded the bases with no outs. Then with one down, first baseman Ryan Seiz knocked an RBI single through the right side to score Hermosillo and lift the Bees in front, 1-0. Burlington left fielder Trevor Gretzky added a run-scoring single. Stinnett kept the bases loaded and held the deficit at 2-0.

The Cubs didn’t record their first hit until cleanup hitter Yasiel Balaguert struck for a single in the top of the sixth inning. With Balaguert at first and second baseman Andrew Ely, who walked to begin the inning, at third, South Bend catcher Cael Brockmeyer looped an RBI single to right field to trim the gap to 2-1. After designated hitter Jason Vosler planted a sacrifice bunt, first baseman Gioskar Amaya rocked an RBI single to center field to tie the game. Third baseman Jesse Hodges skied a sacrifice fly to left field, and Brockmeyer jogged in as South Bend nabbed the 3-2 lead. Amaya swiped second base and came around on center fielder Rashad Crawford’s RBI single. Then Crawford scored on the sixth hit of the inning — left fielder Kevin Encarnacion’s own run-scoring knock, as the Cubs boomeranged the 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead.

In the home half of the sixth, the first three Bees reached against Stinnett with a double, single and walk. The Cubs turned to reliever James Farris, but a wild pitch allowed a Burlington run to score, tightening the margin to 5-3. Bees catcher Brandon Gildea then made it a one-run game with an RBI single to left. With runners at the corners, Burlington bunted, and Amaya fielded and threw home to Brockmeyer, who applied the tag for the second out, preserving the one-run lead.

But in the bottom of the final inning — the seventh — Burlington tied the game on a sacrifice fly. The Bees then won it against Cubs reliever Jordan Minch in the eighth with another sacrifice fly.

Burlington punched across four runs in the second, and South Bend didn’t record a hit until the fourth inning, as the Bees topped the Cubs, 5-3, in the seven-inning front end of a doubleheader.

Burlington (30-30), which took Wednesday’s series opener before Thursday’s washout, jumped on South Bend (26-32) early with a run in the first and the quartet the next frame.

The Cubs didn’t collect their first hit until a two-out single in the fourth from first baseman Cael Brockmeyer. South Bend did plate one in the fifth and a pair in the sixth, but the Cubs stranded six runners and fell in the middle tilt of the three-game series.

Burlington grabbed a run in the bottom of the first inning behind two walks, a single and a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the second inning, Bees left fielder Caleb Adams led off with a double to right field. Two batters later, first baseman Ryan Seiz lifted a two-run home run to right, and Burlington climbed out to a 3-0 advantage.

Later in the frame, center fielder Miguel Hermosillo cracked an RBI single through the middle to plate designated hitter Trevor Gretzky. Cleanup hitter Natanael Delgado chipped in with an RBI single to widen the gap to 5-0.

South Bend starter Trevor Clifton left after two innings in which he surrendered the five runs on six hits and three walks.

Cubs catcher Gioskar Amaya and second baseman David Bote began the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles. Center fielder Charcer Burks then bounced to third, but Bees second baseman Andrew Daniel sailed the relay throw to first, and Amaya scored to put the Cubs on the board, 5-1.

South Bend went to work in the top of the sixth against Burlington reliever Tyler Carpenter. After two walks and a double by designated hitter Yasiel Balaguert, Cubs third baseman Jason Vosler coaxed another walk to reel in left fielder Kevin Encarnacion and bring South Bend within three, 5-2. But Amaya then rolled into a 6-4-3 double play. Balaguert did score to cut the margin to 5-3.

South Bend travels to Peoria to begin a series with the Chiefs on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois. Cubs right-hander Jeremy Null (6-1, 1.75 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Chiefs righty Daniel Poncedeleon (6-0, 2.14 ERA).