Lugnuts open series in Dayton with win
Published on July 4, 2005 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lansing Lugnuts News Release
DAYTON - Luke Hetherington was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, breaking a 7-7 tie and the Lugnuts bullpen was outstanding as Jordy Templet(6-4), Joey McLaughlin and Mark Sopko retired all 15 hitters they faced as Lansing(43-38, 6-6) opened their four-game series in Dayton with a 8-7 win over the Dragons(36-46, 6-6) in front of 9,010 fans at Fifth Third Field in Ohio.
On a night when America celebrated its birthday it was the hitters in this game celebrating early on as both starters struggled.
Charlie Anderson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the first off Bailey to give the Lugnuts the early lead, but it didn't last long as Core allowed a two-out, two-run double to John Purdom that knotted things up at 2-2 after an inning.
Eugenio Velez collected a two-out RBI infield single in the second to plate Ryan Klosterman and put Lansing ahead 3-2, but the Dragons responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
With one out, Jorge Mejia induced a walk from Core and Cody Strait followed with a deep drive to center that hit the wall in straight away center field. Mejia scored to tie the game and as the ball rolled around in the outfield, Strait came all the way around for the inside the park homer. Later in the inning, a two-out, two-run homer by B.J. Szymanski gave the Dragons a 6-3 edge.
In the third, Curtis Thigpen drew a walk from Bailey and after a pair of one-out walks loaded the bases, Hetherington hit a sacfly to center to plate Thigpen and cut the defecit to 6-4.
After the Dragons got an RBI single from Phil Gentry in the fourth, the Lugnuts got a two-run double from Anderson to score Thigpen and Eric Nielsen to cut Dayton's lead to 7-6. Gentry kept his team ahead later in the inning when he threw out Anderson at the plate on a flyout to left by Hetherington.
After Core departed in the fifth, the Lugnuts bullpen did the rest. Jordy Templet retired all nine hitters he faced in his three innings and fanned five to get the win, improving to 6-4.
Ryan Klosterman connected in the sixth off Camilo Vazquez(3-3) for a solo homer to tie the score at 7-7 and then the Lugnuts got the winning rally together in the seventh.
With one out, Vazquez walked Nielsen and then walked Anderson. Christian Snavely was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then Hetherington got plunked to drive in Nielsen with what turned out to be the game-winning run. Snavely went 0-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch and saw his hitting streak stop at 16 games.
McLaughlin worked a perfect eighth and Sopko a one-two-three ninth to earn his fourth save. In all, the Lugnuts fanned a total of 11 Dragon hitters.
The Lugnuts, now 2-3 on their eight-game road trip, continue their series with the Dragons at 7:00 p.m. as A.J. Wideman(5-4, 4.64) takes the hill for Lansing against Dayton's Ramon Ramirez(2-2, 4.31)
Midwest League Stories from July 4, 2005
- Lugnuts open series in Dayton with win - Lansing Lugnuts
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- Cougars show Chiefs, fans plenty of fireworks - Kane County Cougars
- Kernels a star-spangled success - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Cougars hand Chiefs worst loss ever - Peoria Chiefs
- Six game win streak crashes to a halt - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Explosions all around, Dragons edged 8-7 by Lansing - Dayton Dragons
- Swing notebook - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Maestrales becomes a Maverick - Burlington Bees
- Cougars infielders Wayment and Melillo promoted to Stockton - Kane County Cougars
- Kernels' game still on despite weather - Cedar Rapids Kernels
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