The Dragons collected 10 base hits. Angel Cabrera delivered two singles and a double while Jason Bour and Just Reed each had two hits.
West Michigan initially took the lead with a run in the top of the first inning before the Dragons scored twice in the third. Dayton’s Kevyn Feiner started the inning with a single to left and Justin Reed and Anthony Gressick both walked to load the bases. A wild pitch brought in Feiner and Brandon Waring’s ground out brought in Reed to make it 2-1.
But West Michigan answered with three runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead. Chris Carlson belted a two-run home run against Dragons starting pitcher Curtis Partch to highlight the inning as the Whitecaps took a 4-2 lead.
The Dragons scored one run in the fourth when Bour walked, went to second on Cabrera’s single, and eventually scored on a two-out single to center by Reed to make it 4-3.
West Michigan scored twice more against Partch in the fifth to extend their lead to 6-3.
Devin Mesoraco blasted a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the fifth for Dayton to make it 6-4, but West Michigan came right back with one run in the top of the sixth to again lead by three at 7-4.
In the Dayton half of the sixth inning, Reed drilled a triple to center field to drive in Feiner and make it 7-5. Gressick followed with a sacrifice fly to right to score Reed and pull the Dragons to within one at 7-6.
But the Dragons could not get back on the scoreboard as West Michigan added another run in the eighth and two more in the ninth on two-run home run by Casper Wells.
The 17 hits by West Michigan were the most this season by a Dragons’ opponent.