By Mike Monaco

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After suffering a one-sided loss that wrapped up in the early hours Sunday morning, South Bend bounced back later that night with a 4-3 win over Bowling Green in the series opener at Bowling Green Ballpark.

The Cubs (31-31 second half, 60-69 overall) fell in Saturday’s finale with Great Lakes, 15-0, and endured 132 minutes of rain delays at Four Winds Field before boarding the bus later that morning for the trip to Kentucky. But South Bend nabbed three runs in the second against the Hot Rods (29-32 second half, 66-65 overall), and starting pitcher Erick Leal delivered six shutout innings.

Leal only allowed two hits over the six stanzas, while fanning four.

South Bend center fielder Ian Happ (2-for-3) clubbed a solo home run and scored a pair of runs in the win.

Cubs right-handed reliever Alexander Santana tossed 1-2-3 seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth. Thanks to three Cubs errors, the Hot Rods sliced a four-run deficit to a one-run gap. But South Bend reliever Ryan McNeil recorded the final two outs in the eighth and spun a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win.

South Bend first baseman Kevin Encarnacion reeled in second baseman David Bote with an RBI groundout in the top of the second inning. Happ, who doubled and advanced to third, later scored on an error by Bowling Green left fielder Bralin Jackson, pushing the South Bend lead to 2-0. Cubs designated hitter Rashad Crawford scored shortstop Vimael Machin with an RBI double.

Happ led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run to stretch the lead to 4-0.

The Hot Rods struck for three runs in the home eighth on a trio of South Bend errors and a walk.

South Bend and Bowling Green clash Monday at 8:05 p.m. ET in the middle game at Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky.