Loons Power Past Lugnuts 5-3, Newell and Gelof Homer

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (20-10) made the most of their opportunities, driving in five runs, all with the longball beating the Lansing Lugnuts (13-17) 5-3 on a 57-degree cloudy and windy Thursday night at Dow Diamond.

Chris Newell and Jake Gelof both went deep. In the bottom of the first, Newell came up with two outs and Noah Miller on first base after a walk. The 23-year-old took a 3-2 pitch to deep right field, 414 feet, landing out of the park. Newell has nine home runs, the leader in the Midwest League.

In the sixth, now down 3-2, Newell walked with two outs to move Thayron Liranzo to second base after he singled earlier in the frame. That set up Jake Gelof, who launched a ball 358 feet, landing over the tall wall in left field. It was Gelof’s first as a Loon in his third game played. It was the lone spot where Great Lakes, had a runner in scoring position. ‘

Maddux Bruns made his first home start of 2024, delivering six strikeouts through four innings. The left-hander retired nine of the first 11 faced before issuing a walk with two outs in the fourth inning. A single followed, along with a second walk, to load the bases. Bruns struck out Cameron Masterman in seven pitches after two foul balls.

Lansing’s three runs came off Brandon Neeck. Four straight two-out hits in the fifth inning, a two-run double by Brayan Buelvas, made it 3-2. The Loons bullpen bounced back, with Kelvin Bautista working two scoreless innings. Dating back to April 25th, he has thrown 6.1 consecutive without allowing a run.

Michael Martinez maneuvered around a walk, forcing a flyout to the right-field warning track by Jonny Butler to end the eighth. Lucas Wepf got the ninth and punched out two, stranding the last of 11 total on base for the Lugnuts. Lansing’s top five batters combined for nine of their 10 hits, but only Buelvas reached in his final at-bat.

Rounding Things Out

Gelof and Newell were teammates at the University of Virginia. Three times they both homered in the same game. February 25th, 2022, versus Cornell, March 19th, 2022, against Boston College, and June 5th, 2021, facing Jacksonville.

Up Next

With a 2-1 series lead, the Loons and Lugnuts matchup is tomorrow Friday, May 10th. The first pitch is at 6:05 p.m. Friday is a Feast Friday presented by Isabella Bank. It features two-dollar hot dogs and one-dollar chips, ice cream sandwiches, and sodas.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.