Collier Slugs Three Home Runs, Dragons Top Kernels 11-4

Dayton, OH - Dayton Third Baseman Cam Collier blasted three home runs as the Dragons powered past the Kernels 11-4 Friday night.

After a walk-off win in game three of the series on Thursday, it didn’t take long for the Dragons to hop on the board on Friday. In the bottom of the first inning, Jay Allen was hit by a pitch, and two batters later, Collier blasted his first home run of the night, a two-run shot to put Dayton on top 2-0.

In the second, Dayton blew it open. After a hit and a walk opened the frame, Connor Bruns belted a three-run home run to put the Dragons on top 5-0. Three batters later, Ethan O’Donnell and Collier belted back-to-back homers to make it a 7-0 lead.

In the third, the Kernels got on the board. With one out in the frame, Walker Jenkins cranked his first high-A home run, a solo shot to right to cut the Dragons lead to 7-1.

But didn’t take long for Dayton to get that run back. In the fourth, Hector Rodriguez singled, and a batter later, he scored all the way from first on a Jay Allen single to make it 8-1.

The Kernels cut it to 8-2 in the sixth. A Gabriel Gonzalez hit-by-pitch and a Rubel Cespedes walk put two on for Nate Baez, who produced a run with an RBI base hit.

In the bottom half of the frame, Collier struck again. A single followed by a fielder’s choice put a runner on for the Dragons slugger, who blasted a two-run shot to up the Dayton edge to 10-2.

After the Dragons plated another run in the eighth to make it 11-2, the Kernels got two in the ninth on RBI base hits from Gonzalez and Cespedes, but it was too little too late in the 11-4 loss.

The defeat is the Kernels' fourth straight to open the series in Dayton and it drops Cedar Rapids to 61-55 on the season and 24-28 in the second half. Game five of the series is set for Saturday at 6:07 with Connor Prielipp on the mound opposite Mason Pelio.