Lugnuts Lose Heartbreaker In The Ninth

Lansing’s rapid scoring pace was slowed down a bit on Friday night by South Bend Pitcher Cody Evans as they were defeated by a score of 6-4 in front of 2,319 at Oldsmobile Park.

“We were flat from the time we showed up this afternoon for early work.” stated Lansing manager Ken Joyce. “I’m not one to make excuses, but coming off a good road trip, getting in late, getting in our extra work with weights, getting a big win last night, the guys are tired, again not to make excuses”.

It looked like the scoring merry go round would continue early as Lansing jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Sean Shoffit led the first inning off with an 11-pitch at bat that ultimately resulted in him getting on base via a single. Cory Patton singled in the inning and Joey Metropoulos got hit to load the bases for left fielder Brian Pettway. Pettway recorded an out, but drove Shoffit in on a ground out to short. The scoring threat was thwarted by a Jacob Butler strike out.

South Bend quickly battled back as starter Adrian Martin struggled the entire night. Lansing native Travis Gulick led the inning off for South Bend and scored on another double by team mate Frank Curreri’s. He would later score in the inning on a rare double error by Martin that would see him drop a ball hit back to him, and then throw the ball away into right field. South Bend added a run in both the third and the fourth inning giving them a 4-1 lead.

The Lugnuts battled back in the bottom of the fifth as Yuber Rodriguez led the inning off with a single. Sean Shoffit later drove Y-Rod in, pulling the Lugnuts with in two. Yuber finished the night going 2-3 with a walk and is currently hitting .333 in his repeat performance of Lansing.

The score would remain that way until the eight inning as Edward Rodriguez would come on in relief of Martin and throw 3 1/3 outstanding innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking one.

Lansing would come out firing in the bottom of the eighth inning as Joey Metropoulos got the comeback started with a one-out double. He was replaced by Emmanuel Sena who came into the game as a pinch runner. Sena’s speed was not needed, however, as Brian Pettway came to the plate and drove a 1-2 pitch the opposite way from Kyle Wright completely out of Oldsmobile Park tying the score at four.

“I was just trying not to be nervous up there. I had two strikes and with a runner in scoring position. I was trying to make something happen.” stated Pettway on his home run.

Pettway finished the night going 2-4 with three runs batted in.

The euphoria of the comeback did not last long, however, as Yesson Berroa allowed two runs in the ninth, with the big blow coming off the bat of pinch hitter Trey Hendricks, who doubled down the right field line scoring Richard Mercado with the go ahead run. Hendricks would also score later in the inning handing the Lugnuts a 6-4 defeat.

“It was the right pitch, it was just poor location.” stated Lansing manager Ken Joyce about the pitch that Hendricks hit for a double.

With the loss Lansing falls to 6-3 on the season, but remains in first place in the Eastern Division, ½ games up on Fort Wayne. Yesson Berroa (0-1) was the pitcher of record for the Lugnuts taking the loss.

The two teams will conclude their three game series on Saturday in Lansing, and it will feature a battle of the southpaws. LHP A.J. Wideman will get the start for the Lugnuts, while Ryan Schreppel will take to the hill for the Silverhawks.

Streak Watch: With Joey Metropoulos double in his final at bat, he keeps his hitting streak alive at 8 games.