Dragons Lead Wire-to-Wire, Top Kernels 7-2

Dayton, OH - Dayton scored three times in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back Sunday afternoon, topping the Kernels for the fifth time in the set, 7-2.

After the Kernels opened up a 3-0 lead on Saturday, it was the Dragons that hopped on the board first on Sunday. In the bottom of the first inning, Hector Rodriguez tripled to open the frame, and a batter later, he came home to score on a Jay Allen sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Cam Collier worked a two-out walk to extend the inning to Leo Balcazar, who upped the Dayton lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run.

In the top of the second, the Kernels had a response. Misael Urbina walked to open the frame, and after a Jose Salas single moved him to second, he scored on a Walker Jenkins RBI double to cut the Dayton lead to 3-1.

In the bottom of the third, the Dragons got that run back. With one out, Jacob Hurtubise was hit by a pitch, and two batters later, he moved to third on an error. With runners on the corners, Dayton pulled off a double steal to score Hurtubise and up the lead to 4-1.

The Kernels cut it to two-run game again in the top of the fifth. To begin the frame, Gabriel Gonzalez crushed a solo home run to left to make it 4-2.

That stayed the score until the bottom of the eighth. A Cade Hunter double opened the frame, and after Victor Acosta singled, he stole second to put two in scoring position for Trey Faltine, who blew it open to 6-2 with a two-run single. Faltine then stole second and third to move into scoring position for Ethan O’Donnell, who lifted the Dragons on top 7-2 with an RBI single, the score that would be the final.

Cedar Rapids finishes the set in Dayton 1-5 and drops to 62-56 on the season, 25-29 in the second half. The Kernels continue their 12-game road trip Tuesday in Lake County at 5:35 when they open up a six-game series with the Captains; both starters in game one are TBD.