Silver Hawks Continue Dominance over Loons

     

SOUTH BEND, IN - Historically, the Great Lakes Loons have experienced a tremendous amount of success against the South Bend Silver Hawks, winning more than 58% of all-time games between the two teams.

But 2014 has seen a reversal of roles.

With Thursday night's 3-2 Silver Hawks win over the Loons, South Bend has won 11 of the 13 matchups this season.

The Loons tied the score, 1-1, in the fourth inning on a double by Webster Rivas.

Two innings later, the Loons took the lead. Paul Hoenecke led off the inning with a double. The with runners at first and third, Hoenecke scored on a ground ball fielder's choice hit into by Josmar Cordero to give the Loons a 2-1 lead.

A turning point in the game came one batter later. Rivas slugged a line drive down the right field line for his second double of the game. Cordero rounded third, then slammed on the brakes, slipped and was thrown out scrambling back to third.

The next half inning, South Bend pushed across the tying and go-ahead runs against reliever Jordan Hershiser. Jamie Westbrook's RBI single scored Daniel Palka to tie the score, 2-2. Later in the inning, Westbrook scored the go-ahead run on a Hershiser wild pitch.

The Silver Hawks threw three pitchers - Nick Sarianides, Will Locante and Silvino Bracho - one inning each to close out the game without a run scoring. Bracho notched his league-best 22^nd save. Bud Jeter (4-2) notched the win despite allowing a run in one inning. Hershiser (0-1) took the loss.

The two starters notched nearly identical stat lines. Victor Arano and Ryan Doran each allowed four hits and one run in five innings for no-decisions.

The Loons out-hit the Silver Hawks, 8-7, led by two hits each from Hoenecke, Joey Curletta and Rivas.

The Loons play the second game of a four-game series against the Silver Hawks Friday night at 7:35pm ET. Right-hander Greg Harris (7-6, 4.71 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Loons against South Bend lefty Anthony Blanda (7-6, 3.55). The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 100.9-FM and ESPN1009.com.

The Great Lakes Loons are an eighth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For tickets and more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com, or call 989-837-BALL.