Dragons upend Lugnuts in second straight dramatic finish

DAYTON, OH – Bren Spillane slugged a two-run go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and the Dayton Dragons (8-3) survived a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the ninth in a 3-2 win over the Lansing Lugnuts (5-6) on Saturday night at Day Air Ballpark.

It was the second consecutive game in which the Lugnuts loaded the bases in the ninth inning before falling, following a 3-1 defeat on Friday night.

Cobie Vance doubled home Max Schuemann in the second inning and singled in Schuemann in the sixth inning, putting the Lugnuts up 2-0 behind a strong tandem pitching performance.

Seth Shuman, making his first start since Opening Day, set down the first six Dragons in order, and Colin Peluse followed with scoreless baseball into the sixth.

Brian Rey’s league-leading sixth home run of the year put the Dragons on the board in the bottom of the sixth – the only run allowed by Peluse in five innings of relief, striking out seven.

But Mariel Bautista led off the bottom of the eighth against Michael Danielak with a triple to center field, and Spillane followed with a towering drive to left to give the Dragons the lead. Rey tripled to right two batters later, but Danielak kept the Lugnuts within a run by striking out Eric Yang and Quincy McAfee to end the inning.

That led to a taut ninth inning against Dayton reliever Jake Gilbert. Jake Suddleson and Jared McDonald opened the frame with back-to-back singles and Michael Guldberg beat out a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Shane Selman, batting in place of Austin Beck after replacing Beck defensively earlier in the game, sent a bouncer to third, where McAfee threw home to force out Suddleson for the first out. Gilbert then struck out Patrick McColl and retired Jordan Díaz on a flyout to center to end the game.

In the loss, the Lugnuts received two-hit performances from 6-7-8-9 hitters William Simoneit, Vance, Suddleson and McDonald.

The Nuts won the first two games of the series but have lost the last three. Right-hander Stevie Emanuels (2.08 ERA) starts the series finale at 2:05 p.m. Sunday as Lansing looks for the series split, dueling with Dayton right-hander Eduardo Salazar (2.70 ERA).

The next Nuts homestand will run from Tuesday, May 25, through Sunday, May 30, against the Great Lakes Loons. To purchase tickets, please visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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