Lugnuts pick up first win of the year
April 4, 2008 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lansing Lugnuts News Release
Fort Wayne, IN - The Lansing Lugnuts pounded out 18 hits in a 9-1 thrashing of the Fort Wayne Wizards at Memorial Stadium Friday night. The win marks the first victory of the season for Lansing after they had dropped the opener to the Wizards last night.
The two teams were tied at 1-1 in the fourth inning when the Lugnuts were finally able to take the lead for good. With the bases loaded and one man out, Michael McDade ripped a single into right field that plated C.J. Ebard to give Lansing a 2-1 lead. John Tolisano was thrown out at home on the play as he tried to score from second base. Moises Sierra followed that with an RBI single of his own to push the lead to 3-1, but he too was thrown out, this time trying to reach second on the hit.
Lansing extended the advantage in the seventh when Sierra led the inning off with a wild solo homer to right field that made the score 4-1. Fort Wayne right fielder Shane Buschini tried to make a leaping catch at the wall, but actually went head-first over the low barrier where he still nearly came up with the catch. He was not hurt on the play.
The Lugnuts were not done in the frame though as Justin Jackson scored on a Kevin Ahrens RBI double that pushed the lead to 5-1. Ahrens finished the game 4-for-5 with two RBI.
Lansing scratched four more runs across the plate in the ninth inning, highlighted by a Tolisano two-run double.
Every member of the Lansing lineup had a hit in the game, while two men, Ahrens and Yohermyn Chavez, had four raps.
The run support was plenty for the Lansing pitching staff, as Kyle Ginley (1-0) picked up his first win of the season by tossing six innings of one run baseball. He scattered seven hits and fanned four in his outing.
Cody Crowell fanned five in two innings of relief, while Brian Pettway threw a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
Lansing (1-1) and Fort Wayne (1-1) will continue the series on Saturday afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m. Southpaw Nate Starner will take the hill for the Lugnuts, while righty Robert Woodard will get the call for the Wizards.
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