Stephenson Dominates as Dragons Win, 9-0

Dragons 9, South Bend 0

Click here for the box score

Dayton, Ohio-Robert Stephenson provided an electrifying performance on the mound and the Dayton Dragons pounded out 14 hits as they defeated the South Bend Silver Hawks 9-0 on Thursday night. The Dragons snapped the Silver Hawks 10-game winning streak as they avoided a sweep of the three-game series.

Stephenson (5-3), throwing fastballs in the mid to high 90's along with an assortment of sharp curveballs and tantalizing change-ups, retired the first 17 batters of the game, including eight on strikeouts. He lost his perfect game with two outs in the sixth on a slow roller off the bat of Mike Lang that started foul and then spun back fair before it was picked up by Stephenson near the first base line, whose throw to first would have gotten Lang by a step, but it bounced off the glove of Dragons first baseman Seth Mejias-Brean. It was ruled an infield hit for Lang and was the only hit on the night against Stephenson. He reached his pitch limit after six and two-thirds innings, finishing with nine strikeouts. The only walks he allowed came to two of the last three batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning.

The Dragons took the lead with three runs in the first inning on a run-scoring single by Mejias-Brean and a two-run double by Jeff Gelalich. They added three more in the fourth on a two-run single by Beau Amaral and a sacrifice fly by Joe Terry. They closed out the scoring with three in the eighth, taking advantage of an error and two walks, one with the bases loaded to Jesse Winker.

The Dragons 14-hit attack was led by Amaral, who went 3 for 4, scored twice and drove in two. Winker, Tanner Rahier, Joe Hudson, and Zach Vincej each had two hits. 

Over Stephenson's last five starts, he has gone 4-0 with a 1.14 earned run average, allowing four earned runs in 31.2 innings and walking four while striking out 42.

The Dragons host the Lake County Captains in the opener of a four-game series on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Fifth Third Field. Ismael Guillon (1-5, 7.98) will start for the Dragons against Lake County's Mason Radeke, who will be making his first appearance of the season. The game will be televised on WHIO Digital Channel 7.2 (Time Warner Cable channels 23 and 372). All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com.