Kernels Score Three in the Tenth, Down Dayton 7-4

Dayton, OH - Walker Jenkins delivered a go-ahead RBI double, and Nate Baez put the game away with a two-run home run in the tenth inning as the Kernels grabbed their first win in Dayton, 7-4 in ten innings.

After falling behind 7-0 in the loss Friday, the Kernels flipped the script on Saturday. After Kernels' starter Connor Prielipp did not allow a run on just one hit with four strikeouts across three innings, the game stayed scoreless until the top of the fourth.

In the top of the fourth, the Kernels offense got going. A Gabriel Gonzalez walk opened the frame, and after singles by Rubel Cespedes and Nate Baez, the bases were loaded with no one out. With the bases full, Rixon Wingrove put Cedar Rapids on top with a two-run single. Behind him, Poncho Ruiz extended the Kernels’ lead to 3-0 with an RBI double. Three batters later, Kaelen Culpepper increased the CR edge to 4-0 with an RBI base hit.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Dragons began to chip away. With one out, Ethan O’Donnell smashed a solo home run to put Dayton on the board. After the next batter, Cam Collier, singled, he came home to score all the way from first base on a Leo Balcazar triple to cut the Kernels' lead to 4-2.

In the sixth, a Collier solo home run made it a one-run game at 4-3. Then, one inning later, an error opened the frame, and after Connor Burns reached on a fielder’s choice, he moved to second on a walk and then tied the game at 4-4 on an Ethan O’Donnell RBI single.

The score stayed tied all the way until the top of the tenth. With the ghost runner on second, Walker Jenkins instantly put the Kernels on top 5-4 with an RBI double. Three batters later, Nate Baez then put the game away, blasting a two-run home run to increase the lead to 7-4, the score that would be the final.

Mike Paredes got the win on the mound for the Kernels. Paredes sent the game to extras, tossing a scoreless ninth before locking down the win with a scoreless tenth inning.

The win ends the Kernels’ string of four straight losses to open the series in Dayton and improves Cedar Rapids to 62-55 on the year and 25-28 in the second half. The set with the Dragons wraps up Sunday at 12:05 with Darren Bowen on the mound opposite Gabriel Aguilera.