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Lake County Captains

Doubles-Happy Lukes Drives Captains to Sweep

May 27, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Dayton, OH) - Nathan Lukes ignited the Lake County Captains' offense on Thursday night, as the Captains finished a three-game series sweep of the Dayton Dragons at Fifth Third Field. Lukes hit three doubles and drove in four runs to drive Lake County to a 9-5 victory.

Lukes helped put the Captains on the board early. With one out and Willi Castro on second, Lukes roped his first double of the ballgame to bring home Castro and give Lake County a 1-0 lead.

When the Captains extended their lead to 4-0 in the third, Lukes again was at the center of the offense. Tyler Krieger drove home the first run in a three-run inning and Lukes drove in the second, scoring Ka'ai Tom with his second double in at many at-bats. Lukes then scored on a wild pitch to further extend the Captains' lead.

Dayton got a run back in the third inning on a run-scoring double by Shed Long, but Lake County responded with the first long ball of the series. After Nate Winfrey was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Dragons starter Tanner Rainey struck out Martin Cervenka. Tom then came up with one out and rocketed a line drive over the right field wall for his first home run of the season to give the Captains a 6-1 lead.

The Dragons made the Captains sweat in the fifth, as two big swings pulled Dayton within a run. With two men on and two outs, Long laced a two-run double. One batter later, James Vasquez went deep with a high fly ball that just tucked inside the right field foul pole for a two-run home run that trimmed Lake County's lead to 6-5.

The Captains widened the distance with a run in the seventh. Krieger led off with a single, stole second and moved to third base on a ground out to second by Lukes. The Dragons pulled the infield in and Connor Marabell hit a ground ball to the first baseman, Vasquez. Krieger raced home and beat the throw from Vasquez to give Lake County a 7-5 advantage.

Lukes drove in two more runs in the eighth to help the Captains put the game away. Cervenka led off the inning with a single, but Dayton reliever Ariel Hernandez struck out the next two men. Hernandez then walked Krieger to put runners on the corners and the Dragons called on lefty reliever Juan Martinez to face Lukes, but the move did not work. Lukes hit a tailing fly ball down the left field line that fell just out of the reach of a diving Shane Mardirosian. Cervenka and Krieger both scored to put Lake County up, 9-5.

Shao-Ching Chiang earned the victory for Lake County. Chiang (3-3) pitched five innings and allowed five runs on five hits, four of which were in the fifth inning. The right-hander struck out a pair and walked two.

Dayton starter Tanner Rainey lost his fifth game of the season. Rainey (1-5) allowed six runs over five innings. The Captains managed seven hits against Rainey, who struck out six and walked four.

Lake County completed its third sweep of the season and second away from home. The Captains return to Classic Park on Friday just two games out of first place, as Lake County begins a seven-game homestand against the Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Bowling Green Hot Rods. First pitch for Friday's opener against Fort Wayne is at 6:30 p.m.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

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