Dayton opened the sixth inning with three straight singles from Sal Stewart, Hector Rodriguez and Ruben Ibarra to produce a run and make it 5-3, but the next three Dragons hitters were strikeouts victims as they left two men on base in the inning. Cedar Rapids responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth to again lead by three runs at 6-3.
The Dragons pulled to within one run in the seventh when Ethan O’Donnell singled with two outs and Stewart followed with a two-run home run to left to make it 6-5. The homer was Stewart’s first of the season. But the Kernels again responded, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-5 and close out the scoring.
The Dragons finished with eight hits. Stewart was 2 for 4 and raised his batting average to .323. He scored two runs and drove in two. Rodriguez was 1 for 4 and finished the day batting a team-leading .414.
Dragons starting pitcher Jared Lyons (0-1) pitched well early, allowing just one unearned run over the first four innings, but he was charged with three runs in the fifth and absorbed the loss.
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