Pitching Propels 'Caps Victory
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps enjoyed a strong showing from their pitching staff in a 5-1 bounce-back victory over the Great Lakes Loons Wednesday night at LMCU Ballpark. 'Caps starter Jack O'Loughlin picked up his first win as a Whitecap, going five innings while allowing just one
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps enjoyed a strong showing from their pitching staff in a 5-1 bounce-back victory over the Great Lakes Loons Wednesday night at LMCU Ballpark.
'Caps starter Jack O'Loughlin picked up his first win as a Whitecap, going five innings while allowing just one run and striking out four Loons hitters – all coming a night after suffering a loss in their largest margin of defeat in a 18-7 loss to the Loons on Tuesday night. O'Loughlin, Chris Mauloni, and Angel Reyes combined to strike out ten Loons batters while holding Great Lakes to 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Great Lakes struck first as Ryan Ward roped an RBI single to put the Loons on top 1-0 in the first inning. West Michigan responded in the fourth inning as Colt Keith and Parker Meadows collected back-to-back RBIs to put West Michigan in front 2-1. Jake Holton plated Rey Rivera on a sacrifice fly in the fifth before Meadows added his second RBI on the night, scoring Ulrich Bojarski and extending the Whitecaps lead to 4-1. In the top of the sixth, Meadows made a spectacular leaping catch to rob what would’ve been a two-run home run by Joe Vranesh in right center field. Whitecaps reliever Chris Mauloni struck out five Loons batters through three scoreless frames as West Michigan plated another insurance tally in the seventh, extending their lead to 5-1. West Michigan closer Angel Reyes set down the Loons in the ninth to secure the Whitecaps victory.
O'Loughlin (1-1) picked up his first win as Great Lakes starter Hyun-il Choi (0-2) lasted only 4.1 innings while allowing four runs on four hits in his second loss this year. The Whitecaps improve to 54-56 as the Loons fall to 60-50. The Whitecaps need to finish the season 5-5 to capture 2,000 franchise victories. Meadows finished with a career-high three RBIs in the victory. With his scoreless ninth inning, Reyes has now tossed 14 straight frames without allowing a run.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps play game three of this six-game series to conclude the 2021 home schedule from LMCU Ballpark on Thursday at 7:05 pm. West Michigan sends righty Austin Bergner to the mound against Logan Boyer. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2021 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.