MWL1 Lake County Captains

Lugnuts Storm Past Captains, 7-0

Published on May 31, 2017 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


Eastlake, OH- Mike Ellenbest led a shutout performance and the Lansing Lugnuts (28-22) hit three home runs to topple the Lake County Captains (18-33) on Wednesday afternoon at Classic Park. Ellenbest pitched seven scoreless frames and home runs by Bradley Jones, Edward Olivares and Bo Bichette led Lansing past Lake County, 7-0.

Ellenbest (2-4) pitched his finest ballgame of the season and earned the win. The Lansing right-hander pitched a career-high seven innings and only allowed four hits and one walk. Ellenbest struck out five and did not allow a single Captains baserunner to advance beyond first base. Lefty reliever Dan Lietz pitched the last two innings and maintained the shutout. Lietz allowed two hits and, like Ellenbest, did not allow a runner to get past first.

Ellenbest and Captains starter Tanner Tully were entangled in a pitcher's duel over the first three innings. Each starter had allowed just one hit and neither side had surrendered a run. In the fourth, however, Lansing broke out the bats.

After Tully fanned his fifth batter to start the fourth, Bichette roped a single and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. followed with a single. Tully then fell behind Jones with three straight balls. Jones got the green light on 3-0 and belted a rocket over the left field wall. Jones' clout left the yard in a hurry and hit the last row of the bleachers for a three-run homer. Two batters, later, Olivares hit a solo shot to left-centerfield that gave the Lugnuts a 4-0 lead.

Tully responded with a one-two-three fifth inning, but Bichette added an insurance run quickly in the sixth. Bichette, who had homered the previous night in the series opener, drilled a leadoff homer that hit the left field foul pole to push Lansing's lead to 5-0.

The Lugnuts kept their bats hot against the Captains' bullpen. Lansing put together a two-out rally in the seventh inning against Lake County right-hander Ryan Colegate. Yeltsin Gudino doubled and Jake Thomas singled him home to make the score 6-0.

One inning later, Jones led off with a single and was balked up to second base. J.B. Woodman then singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Colegate induced a ground ball double play off the bat of Olivares, but Jones scored on the twin-killing to give Lansing a 7-0 cushion.

Tully (2-4) suffered the loss. The Lake County lefty retired the first six men he faced and faced the minimum through the first three innings. He ended up with a career-high nine strikeouts, but Lansing's long balls proved deadly. Tully lasted six innings and allowed five runs on seven hits.

Lake County and Lansing have split the first two games of the three-game series and will play the rubber match on Thursday night. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 6:30 PM.

Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 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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Midwest League Stories from May 31, 2017


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