The Lugnuts took advantage of a balk that brought a runner in from third base in the top of the second inning to give them a 1-0 lead.
The Dragons responded in the bottom of the second when Ariel Almonte lined a two-run home run to right field to give Dayton a 2-1 lead. The homer was Almonte’s fourth of the year and his second in the last two games.
Lansing jumped back in front in the top of the fourth, collecting four hits in the inning and scoring two runs to take a 3-2 lead while knocking Dragons starter Luke Hayden out of the game. Jonah Hurney replaced Hayden with the bases loaded and two outs and recorded the final out on a fly ball to right to keep the Dragons within a run.
Hayden (1-1) worked three and two-thirds innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs with three walks and one strikeout while absorbing the loss.
The Lugnuts scored three runs on four hits against Hurney in the fifth to extend their lead to 6-2, and they tacked on four against Dayton reliever Will Cannon in the sixth to go ahead 10-2. Lansing added another run in the seventh against Joseph Menefee to extend their lead to 11-2.
The Dragons scored in the bottom of the seventh when Cam Collier singled and scored on a two-out double off the center field fence by John Michael Faile to make it 11-3. A pair of wild pitches brought Faile in to score to make it 11-4. Lansing added one more run in the eighth on a solo homer by Jared Dickey against Dayton reliever Easton Sikorski to make it 12-4.
Dayton closed out the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, getting a run-scoring single by Almonte and a sacrifice fly from Anthony Stephan to make it 12-6.
The Dragons finished the day with six hits. Almonte was 2 for 4 with a home run, single, and three runs batted in.
The 19 hits by Lansing marked the highest total by a Dayton opponent this season.
Up Next: The Dragons (18-39) travel to Eastlake, Ohio to open a six-game series with the Lake County Captains (28-28) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Brian Edgington (2-2, 4.57) will start for Dayton.
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