In the ninth, Eric Yang was hit by a pitch to start the inning for Dayton, and Miguel Hernandez singled Yang to second. With one out, Francisco Urbaez walked to load the bases. Jacob Hurtubise hit a bouncer back to the mound, but Lake County pitcher Nick Gallagher threw wildly to second base as he tried to start what would have been a game-ending double play.
Yang scored on the play to tie the game and the bases remained loaded. With two outs, Quincy McAfee walked to force in the go-ahead run and give Dayton a 10-9 lead. The walk was the 13th of the night drawn by Dayton hitters.
Dragons reliever Braxton Roxby pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth inning for his second save of the year to salvage an otherwise rough night for the Dayton bullpen.
Francisco Urbaez went 2 for 4 with two runs batted in to lead the Dayton offense. He is now batting .333 on the year and is 10 for 24 (.417) over his last seven games.
The Dragons (15-10) remained one-half game behind West Michigan in the East Division standings. The Whitecaps have won nine straight games.
The Dragons play at Lake County (11-14) in the second game of the series on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Lyon Richardson (1-1, 1.10) will start for the Dragons against Logan Allen (2-0, 0.83).