MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Surrender Late Lead, Lose 5-3

Published on May 3, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons (12-15) lost to the Beloit Snappers (13-12) by a score of 5-3 on Friday night at Dow Diamond, giving up two runs in the eighth inning and two runs in the ninth, allowing the Snappers to come back from a two-run deficit in the rubber match of the three-game series.

The game was tied 3-3 going into the ninth inning. The Snappers drew two one-out walks before two-hitter Daniel Robertson hit a double that bounced off the wall in left-field and scored both runners, giving Beloit a lead that they would not surrender.

Jesmuel Valentin singled in the ninth and got to the second base with the tying run at the plate, but Pat Stover grounded out to second base to end the game.

"There are times in baseball when you win some games that you shouldn't win and other times when you lose some games that maybe you should've won," Loons manager Razor Shines explained. "It's just baseball. It happens. I'd like to have the lead in the eighth inning every game, because I guarantee we would win more than we lose."

The Loons got on the board in the first inning. James Baldwin, who was 2-for-3 started the inning with a single up the middle, went first to third on a Jeremy Rathjen single and scored when Corey Seager, who was 1-for-3 with two RBI, hit into a fielder's choice.

"I just wanted to make good contact, hit the ball hard somewhere and do some damage," Baldwin said. "You need to get a feel for how the game is going and make adjustments accordingly and I feel that I did that tonight."

Great Lakes put another run on the board in the home half of the third inning. Nine-hitter Malcolm Holland singled to center field before advancing to second base on a bunt single from Baldwin, stealing third and scoring on a Seager sacrifice fly.

Beloit cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth when eight-hitter Sam Roberts, who was 2-for-4, singled to right field, scoring Matt Olson.

Jesmuel Valentin, who was 2-for-3 on the night, scored the Loons third run of the game in the fifth, reaching on a single and eventually scoring because of an error by Snapper pitcher Austin House.

Jharel Cotton started for the Loons and pitched five excellent innings, holding the Snappers to one run on four hits, while striking out six and walking two. Luis Meza pitched 2.1 innings. He threw scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh before giving up the two runs in the eighth. Sawil Gonzalez pitched 1.2 innings and was responsible for the last two runs of the ballgame, taking credit for the loss.

"I had all of my top three pitches working - my fastball, my changeup and my curveball," Cotton said. "Every time I got in a bad situation, I went with my changeup and that was really working for me. I had two innings when my pitch count got kind of high, which didn't allow me to go further in the game. But I'll take today as a lesson to go at the hitters more, so I can try and go deep into games to give my team a chance to win games."

The Snappers tied the game with two runs in the eighth. Olson doubled to left field, scoring cleanup hitter Renato Nunez, who was 2-for-5. Olson was thrown out at home plate after a Rashun Dickson groundball to third base. Dickson, who was 2-for-4 in the game, reached on the play. After stealing second base, Dickson scored the tying run on a single from seven-hitter John Wooten.

Beloit starting pitcher Austin House went five innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits, while striking out three. Dakota Bacus pitched four scoreless innings in relief to get the win, giving up two hits and picking up three strikeouts.

The Loons are back in action when they open a three-game series against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (10-14) on Saturday night. Game time is 7:05 p.m. The projected starter for Great Lakes is Carlos Frias (3-0, 1.14), while Austin Blaski (1-0, 1.35) is expected to go for the Timber Rattlers. The Loons are hosting Super Hero Night on Saturday night, featuring appearances by Iron Man and Thor.

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