Loons Take Series from Cougars
MIDLAND, Mich.- Great Lakes used nine unanswered runs to guarantee a series victory over the Cougars on Sunday afternoon in Midland Michigan. The Cougars (19-10, 64-35) 9-5 loss to the Loons (14-15, 48-51) hands the Cougars their first series loss of the second half of the season.
Tyler Skulina was given a lead before he even took the mound, as the Cougars plated three runs in the opening inning. Shawon Dunston Jr. scored on a wild pitch before Jacob Rogers blasted a two-run home run over the right field wall. Rogers' dinger was a team-leading 10th of the season.
Scott Barlow (4-4) served up the three-run inning, but settled down after the opening frame for five innings to pick up the win.
The Loons grabbed a run in the bottom of the first and knocked Skulina (4-6) out of the ballgame in the third inning. Great Lakes connected on four straight hits, including a two-run home run from Josmar Cordero, for a four-run frame to put the Loons ahead 5-3. Michael Heesch came in in relief in the third and quickly stopped the bleeding. Heesch finished with three and one-third scoreless innings while striking out six.
Two-run efforts in the seventh and eighth innings pushed Great Lakes ahead even further as they took a 9-3 advantage into the ninth.
For the second straight day the Cougars made some noise with their last chance at the plate, but fell short of a complete comeback and lost 9-5.
The Cougars will now look to avoid their third sweep of the season with an 11:05 a.m. first pitch from the Dow Diamond. Daury Torrez (9-4, 2.81) will take the mound for the Cougars against Great Lakes' Zachary Bird (4-11, 4.18). The game can be heard on AM 1280 WBIG and kccougars.com.