Loons Score Nine Unanswered, Rout Kernels 11-3

Midland, MI - After Cedar Rapids took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, Great Lakes scored nine unanswered runs to top the Kernels 11-3 Saturday night.

After falling behind in three straight games, Cedar Rapids hopped on the board first for just the second time in the series. In the top of the first inning, a Rubel Cespedes single, an error and a Misael Urbina walk loaded the bases for Kevin Maitan, who walked with the bases full to put the Kernels on top 1-0.

In the bottom of the second, the Loons answered right back. Noah Miller doubled to begin the inning, then two batters later, back-to-back singles by Chris Newell and Sam Mongelli produced a pair of runs to lift Great Lakes ahead 2-1.

In the third, the Kernels tied it up. To lead off the inning, Jay Harry took a walk, stole second and two batters later scored on a Misael Urbina RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.

Cedar Rapids re-took the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles by Agustin Ruiz and Urbina put two on base, and two batters later, Jose Salas put the Kernels on top 3-2 with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the fifth, a single and a double put the first two Loons on with no one out. After a wild pitch scored a run to tie the game, Chris Newell crushed a two-run home run to put the Loons on top 5-3. After the homer, Mongelli singled, and Nick Biddison reached on an error to put two on with two outs, and another error scored two more runs to extend the lead to 7-3.

In the sixth inning, the Loons scored four more times on a hit and three walks to extend the lead to 11-3 the score which would the final.

The loss is the Kernels' fourth straight in the series and drops Cedar Rapids to 31-24 on the season. Cedar Rapids and Great Lakes wrap up their six-game series tomorrow afternoon at 12:05 with Jordan Carr on the mound opposite Jacob Meador.