Dragons split doubleheader vs. Lugnuts

Dayton's Ruben Ibarra is safe on a triple during during a game last week against Lake County at Day Air Ballpark. CONTRIBUTED/Jeff Gilbert

Dayton's Ruben Ibarra is safe on a triple during during a game last week against Lake County at Day Air Ballpark. CONTRIBUTED/Jeff Gilbert

Ruben Ibarra hit two home runs to lead the Dayton Dragons to a 7-4 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday night. In the second game, the Lugnuts overcame a late 3-0 deficit to defeat the Dragons 6-5 in nine innings.

In the first game, the Dragons scored four runs in the top of the first inning and were never seriously threatened. Ibarra’s two home runs gave him three in his first seven games with the Dragons in 2023. Mat Nelson had two hits and scored a run as the Dragons notched their third straight victory. Starting pitcher Carson Rudd got the win, going five innings and allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

In the second game, the Dragons took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, built the lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth, and never trailed until Lansing came through with a two-out walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.

Austin Hendrick and Tyler Callihan each had two doubles as part of a 10-hit Dragons attack. Blake Dunn and Jack Rogers also had two hits.

Dragons second game starting pitcher Javi Rivera was exceptional over the first five innings, throwing just 51 pitches without allowing a run. But Lansing took advantage of every opportunity in the late innings, scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of RBI ground outs to make it 3-2. In the bottom of the seventh of a scheduled seven-inning game, the Lugnuts took advantage of a throwing error leading to a game-tying unearned run that sent the game to extra innings.

The Dragons (10-14) scored in the top of the eighth on Tyler Callihan’s RBI double with no one out, and after a balk, they had Callihan at third base, but three straight strikeouts allowed Lansing to avoid further damage. The Lugnuts scored one run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game again at 4-4.

The Dragons scored on an error in the top of the ninth, but Lansing took advantage of two wild pitches in the bottom of the ninth, one on a third strike that allowed the hitter to reach and put the eventual winning run on base. After tying the game on a wild pitch, Lansing scored the winning run on a two-out single by Caeden Trenkle that brought in a runner from second.

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