MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Fall in Series Opener

Published on May 12, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


West Michigan: Luis Salas (1st, 0 on base in fifth inning); Ben Guez (2nd, 0 on base in ninth inning); Ronnie Bourquin (1st, 0 on base in ninth inning); Billy Nowlin (2nd, 0 on base in ninth inning).

Dayton, Ohio-The West Michigan Whitecaps scored five unearned runs in the seventh inning to come from behind and defeat the Dayton Dragons 9-4 on Tuesday night. The Whitecaps improved to 21-9 on the season with the win while Dayton dropped to 8-23 on the year.

The Dragons took the lead in the second inning. Tyler Stovall walked to start the frame. With one out, Kevin Coddington grounded to third base, but Bryan Pounds' throw to second was late to get Stovall and Coddington was safe at first. The next batter, Frank Pfister, doubled over the head of the right fielder to score both Stovall and Coddington and give Dayton a 2-0 lead.

West Michigan's Luis Salas lined a home run to left field in the fifth, his first homer of the year, to pull the Whitecaps to within one at 2-1.

Dragons starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran worked the first five innings, allowing four hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts. Sulbaran hit two batters, the second and third batters of the game.

Dragons reliever Andrew Bowman pitched a scoreless sixth, but ran into problems in the seventh. Bowman allowed a lead-off single and a one-out walk, but after a nice grab by catcher Kevin Coddington on a foul pop for the second out, Bowman had a chance to get out of the inning. The next batter, Brent Wyatt, hit a ground ball to the side of the mound that Bowman fielded, but his throw to first bounced in front of the bag for an error as the tying run crossed the plate. Bowman then hit the next two batters, forcing in another run to make it 3-2. The Whitecaps added three more runs in the inning and built a 6-2 lead.

In the ninth, West Michigan connected on three solo home runs off Dragons reliever Jordan Hotchkiss. Ben Guez, Ronnie Bourquin, and Billy Nowlin all hit homers to make it 9-2.

Dayton scored twice in the bottom of the ninth, getting a solo home run from Stephen Chapman and a run-scoring single from Miguel Rojas to close out the scoring.

Bowman (0-5) suffered the loss. In an inning and two-thirds, he allowed just one hit but five unearned runs. He walked two and hit two.

Cody Puckett led a 10-hit Dragons attack by going 4 for 4. It was Puckett's second four-hit game on the current Dragons home stand.

Rojas went 2 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to nine straight games for Dayton.

The Dragons host the Whitecaps in the second game of a four-game series on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field. Matt Fairel (1-2, 3.45) will start for Dayton against West Michigan's Casey Crosby (2-0, 2.73).

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Midwest League Stories from May 12, 2009


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