Ninth-Inning Fireworks Deliver Walk-Off Lansing Win

LANSING, Mich. – On Sunday at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich., the Great Lakes Loons used a walk-off grand slam to deliver a victory over the Dayton Dragons.

On Monday at Jackson Field in Lansing, Mich., the Lansing Lugnuts used a walk-off three-run homer to deliver a victory over the Loons.

The baseball gods giveth, and the baseball gods taketh away.

Tyler Soderstrom, the No. 1 prospect in the Oakland A’s organization, blasted a three-run bomb deep over the centerfield wall, the fireworks before the Fourth of July fireworks to give Lansing a 7-4 win.

Lansing (29-47, 4-6 second half) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a double from Drew Swift and a Soderstrom sacrifice fly. They doubled their advantage in the second inning on a pair of singles, and took a 2-0 lead into the third.

Great Lakes (47-29, 4-3) then saw its starter settle into the contest. Loons lefty Lael Lockhart was solid, allowing seven hits but no walks over his five innings, allowing just the early pair of runs and punching out four.

The Lugnuts, High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, had a tremendous start from their southpaw, Mac Lardner. He tossed six innings of four-hit, scoreless baseball, walking a pair while striking out eight batters.

Great Lakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ High-A partner, capitalized immediately upon the departure of Lardner. Sauryn Lao walked to lead off the seventh inning, and after a pair of outs, Eddys Leonard singled. That brought in Alex De Jesus, who smacked a double off the wall in centerfield to drive in the two runners and tie the game at two. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded there.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Lugnuts struck again. Jack Winkler hit his second double of the day and advanced to third on a groundout. Jared McDonald was ruled out for batter interference in the next at-bat, and Lugnuts manager Phil Pohl was ejected for arguing the call. Matt Cross walked, then Kevin Richards, who had just one double and one RBI in his first eight games with Lansing, hit a two-run double off of Braydon Fisher (L, 2-3) to put Lansing in front, 4-2.

The Loons were suddenly down to their last chance. Lao again walked to lead off the ninth inning, but two quick outs meant Leonard was the Loons’ last chance. He stepped in and hit a towering fly to left-center field, a game-tying two-run homer for his eighth longball of the year, and his first in over a month. Great Lakes then drew a couple of walks in the ninth inning, but could not push across any more runs, as Diego Granado (W, 1-2) came in to record the final out.

Fisher faced one batter in the bottom of the ninth, giving up an infield single to Swift. That polished off a 5-for-5 day for Swift, the first Loons’ opponent to tally five hits since July 2019. Fisher gave way to Jeff Belge, who allowed a single to Gabriel Maciel to put runners on the corners, before Soderstrom placed a ball 458 feet over the centerfield wall to give the Lugnuts the 7-4 lead.

The Loons snap a three-game winning streak, while the Lansing winning streak improves to three games. The two teams will continue a six-game set Wednesday at Jackson Field after a day off Tuesday. Kendall Williams (1-3, 3.77 ERA) toes the rubber for Great Lakes, squaring off against a Lansing starter yet to be announced. Pregame coverage begins on ESPN 100.9-FM at 6:50 p.m. with the Loons On-Deck Circle, driven by Garber Chevrolet Midland, before the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a 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.