Both Lansing and Dunedin advanced to the next round of their playoffs with exciting one-run wins. Dunedin swept Fort Myers in extra innings, while Lansing got out to a lead and refused to relinquish it.
Fort Myers 2 @ Dunedin 3 (11) - Box Score
Dunedin Wins Series 2-1
Dunedin won an extra-inning affair at home in the eleventh after scoring a run in the eight inning to tie the game. Despite outhitting Fort Myers 12-5 the game was knotted after eight innings. Ron Davenport homered for Dunedin in the bottom of the first to give the D-Jays a 1-0 lead. A walk, a single and a ground out in the fifth inning tied the game at one-apiece. In the seventh Fort Myers got the first two runners on base, but Dunedin starter Orlando Trias was aggressive on the sac bunt and threw out the lead runner at third. When the next batter hit a grounder to second it looked like Dunedin might be out of the inning, but second baseman Carlo Cota booted the ball. The bases were loaded and Dunedin could only get one out on the next ground ball and an unearned run scored to give Fort Myers the lead.Daniel Powers came in for Anthony Swarzak to hold the lead in the eighth inning and an Eric Nielsen single drove home Aaron Matthews to tie the game. Matthews would then ground out in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out and runners on second and third. Both teams threatened in the tenth, but neither scored. With two out and nobody on in the bottom of the eleventh Juan Peralta singled and then stole second base. Aaron Matthews was intentionally walked, but then the reliever couldn’t find the plate for Robinzon Diaz and he took a base on balls, as well. With two out and the sacks full Ron Davenport drove home Peralta with the series-winning run with a single.
Five D-Jays had two hits on the night and Cory Patton and Christian Snavely were the only Dunedin players not to have hits. Both Dunedin pitchers turned in fine performances as Trias gave up four hits and two walks over seven strong and then Connor Falkenbach gave up one hit and one intentional walk over his four innings.
South Bend 3 @ Lansing 4 - Box Score
Lansing Wins Series 2-0
Lansing knocked out South Bend on a bunch of singles and timely pitching by Adrian Martin. Lansing had six hits on the night, all singles. Jacob Butler and Brian Pettway had two each and Brian Bormaster and Jesus Gonzalez each had one. Everybody singled in Lansing’s four-run first inning, when Butler and Pettway scored, along with Luke Hetherington who reached on an error and Joey Metropolous who walked. The rest of the night saw Lansing get two singles, never get a runner past second base and go 1-2-3 in four of their remaining seven innings at the plate.So, it was up to the pitching to hold up and Adrian Martin turned in a strong performance. Despite giving up eleven hits on the night, he only gave up three in an inning once and did not walk a batter. Martin struck out four and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned. He also was the beneficiary of some fine defensive play, as both Butler and Pettway added to their nights by throwing out South Bend runners at home plate. Po Hsuan Keng allowed an unearned run on two walks and an error. Jordan Timm came in after two batters in the eighth and did not allow a hit and Paul Phillips closed it out for his second save of the series. Justin Upton ended the game on a fly out to center field and finished his season 0-5 with three strikeouts.
After defeating the defending champion Silver Hawks, Lansing will move on to the semifinals of the Midwest League and will have an extra day off as no other team managed to sweep.
Mahoning Valley 2 @ Auburn 0 (7) - Box Score
Joshua Tomlin gave up three hits over six innings and that was all Auburn was able to piece together. Aside from an Adam Calderone triple, the bats were very quiet all game and the fine efforts of the bullpen didn’t amount to anything.
Mahoning Valley 0 @ Auburn 6 (7) - Box Score
Jonathan Baksh had a 3-3 night to total 1/3 of Auburn’s hits as he roped two doubles and drove in a runner. Brian Jeroloman was 2-3 with a double and an RBI. The Doubledays only had 3 RBIs on the night, as they took advantage of three Scrapper errors, including two by first baseman Josh Roberts. Matt Liuzza and middle infielder Luis Fernandez were the only Auburn starters not to have a hit.
3 star selection
3rd star – Jonathan Baksh, 3-5, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, 5 TB
2nd star – Connor Falkenbach, 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 IBB, 4 K and Orlando Trias 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
1st star – Ron Davenport, 2-6, R, HR, 2 RBI, 5 TB
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