Loons Rally, Fall Short in Lansing Series Debut

LANSING, MI – Despite overcoming a 7-2 Lugnuts lead and tying the game in the seventh inning at Jackson Field on Tuesday, the Great Lakes Loons (18-19) fell to the Lansing Lugnuts (18-19), 9-7. Andrew Shaps went opposite field for his first homerun of the 2021 season, tying the game at 7-7 in the top of the seventh inning. Lansing called with two more runs following the stretch to take the first game of the six-game set. Both teams combined for 25 hits, a season-high for Great Lakes through 37 games this season. Holland native and former Michigan State Spartan Mike Mokma (L, 0-2) allowed two runs to score on three hits, recording one out in the decisive seventh inning. Michael Danielak (W, 1-1) was given the win, despite allowing Shaps game-tying HR and blowing the save in the seventh.

Lansing paced their offense early with a run scoring in the first inning on Loons starter Clayton Beeter. Great Lakes responded with two runs on three hits against Lugnuts’ starter David Leal in his High-A debut with Lansing. After back-to-back, first-pitch singles by Ryan Ward and Carson Taylor, Justin Yurchak began a three-hit night with a two-run double to give the Loons their first and only lead of the night. Alec Gamboa relieved Beeter in the second, only recording two outs before an earlier-than-expected exit of Tuesday’s game after allowing five runs on four hits and using 31 pitches to do so.

After both teams fell silent through the fifth inning, Great Lakes scored five unanswered runs between the sixth and seventh innings. Miguel Vargas plated a runner in the sixth inning, ending his three-game hitless streak, this coming after holding the longest hitting streak in all of professional baseball and setting a new franchise record in Great Lakes with a 26-game streak. Lansing’s lefty reliever Brady Basso walked James Outman and Ward to begin the seventh, bringing in Michael Danielak to face Taylor who would also walk to load the bases. Zac Ching scored a run with an RBI single, drawing the score to 7-4 and keeping the bases loaded. Ching’s multi-hit night helped him extend his hit total to 21 in the month of June, which leads the High-A Central. Following a double-play in Yurchak’s at-bat, Shaps tied the game with his first homer of 2021. In his last three games, Shaps has batted in 10 runs. Ending a six-game absence, Ryan Ward reached base in four of his five at-bats, tallying three hits and a walk as the Loons’ cleanup hitter Tuesday night.

Despite all but one Loon recording a hit, missing Deacon Liput, the Loons offensively left ten men aboard, finishing with a struggling statistic of 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Great Lakes outhit the Lugnuts, 14 hits to 11, despite a 12-2 record when doing so. Five of the seven runs batted in came from the 6-7-8 hitters of Ching, Yurchak, and Shaps.

Lansing relied on production their leadoff hitter Max Schuemann, who stole a franchise-record five bases against Loons pitchers. The shortstop Schuemann ended his night successfully reaching in every at-bat with two singles, two walks, and was hit by a pitch in the sixth. The middle of the Lugnuts order proved to be vital in the Loons loss, as batters four-through-seven finished scoring five of the nine total.

Aside from nine runs scored, eight earned, Loons pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts Tuesday night, while allowing four walks. In his High-A debut in Lansing, Leal lasted 4 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs to score on seven hits, striking out five batters. Both teams used a combined 11 pitchers in Tuesday’s game that lasted three hours and 31 minutes.

Wednesday’s contest is expected to headline a pair of right-handers in GL’s Logan Boyer up against Lansing’s Seth Shuman. Boyer, a 2019 11th-rounder, has worked 8 2/3 innings in nine contests for the Loons this year, striking out 12 batters and allowing four walks. Shuman brings the second-lowest Lansing ERA (1.42) into his fifth start of the season for the Lugnuts, striking out 25 batters in 19 innings and allowing three earned runs on an 0.84 WHIP. First pitch from Jackson Field can be heard on ESPN 100.9 FM at 7:05 P.M. EDT, with coverage beginning at 6:35.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-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 ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.