Lugnuts Latch On 14 Hits, Defeat Loons 8-3 

Midland, Mich.– The Great Lakes Loons (48-24) comeback effort fell short as the Lansing Lugnuts (34-38) layered 14 hits in an 8-3 win on an 81-degree cloudy Saturday night at Dow Diamond.

Lansing had five players with multi-hit games, and their 14 hits are the most allowed by Great Lakes pitching in a single game this season.

The Loons had scoring chances early, stranding six of their eight runners in the first five innings. In the first, Yeiner Fernandez and Griffin Lockwood-Powell both slapped singles. A fielder’s choice to shortstop ended the threat. The bottom of the third saw a Taylor Young single and stolen base, he was left on second base.

Kendall Williams allowed just two Lugnuts baserunners through the first four innings, retiring 10 Lansing batters in a row in that stretch. In the top of the fifth, two singles set up CJ Rodriguez. He rocketed a ball to deep center, a sacrifice fly that scored one. A wild pitch scored the other run.

In the sixth, Caedan Trenkle singled and then sprinted home after an RBI double from Daniel Susac. In the seventh the Lugnuts extended their lead to 6-0.

With a runner on, CJ Rodriguez delivered another deep drive, this time 395 feet over the left field fence. Euribiel Angeles next-up tripled down the right-field line, and he came across home after a Max Muncy RBI single. Three runs off four hits, all off Adolfo Ramirez.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Loons cut the lead in half. Frank Rodriguez walked, and Jake Vogel singled to put two to begin the inning. Taylor Young yanked his third double in the last four games driving home Rodriguez. A Luis Diaz sacrifice fly, and Yeiner Fernandez groundout took the other two across the plate. Lansing replaced Kumar Nambiar as Brock Whittlesey closed the inning.

The Lugnuts added two runs of insurance. An RBI single from Caedan Trenkle and a sacrifice fly from Daniel Susac. Franklin De La Paz started the inning, and Benony Robles finished it. Great Lakes in the final two innings, generated just two baserunners and struck out four times.

The all-time matchup between these two now stands at 141 wins for the Lugnuts and 140 wins for Loons.

Game five between Great Lakes and Lansing is Sunday, July 2nd, with a first pitch time of 1:05 p.m. The first 1000 fans receive a limited-edition Great Lakes Loons team photo presented by Michigan Brand Meats. Every Sunday home game, kids 12 years old and under receive a free hot dog meal and are invited to run the bases postgame brought to you by EGLE.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.