LaLumia, Patten bring relief, Nuts rally for win

LANSING, Mich. – The Lugnuts trailed by four runs at the end of the first inning, but Luke LaLumia (Davenport) and Elliott Patten (LCC) provided crucial relief and Mark Connelly’s (LCC) RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Nuts a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Locos on Saturday night in the Lemonade League at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The Lugnuts have won two in a row and three of the first five Lemonade League games.

The game was delayed 58 minutes by rain at the start – and then the Locos jumped on Lugnuts starter Adam Dorstewitz (Kalamazoo). Adam Purdy (Concordia) led off with a double, Michael Stygles (Oakland) drew a one-out walk, Kade Preston (CMU) doubled both home, Alex McCormack (GVSU) singled and Brock Henley (Davenport) drew a walk to load the bases. Catcher Gabe Sotres (MSU) attempted to pick off Henley at first, but threw it away, bringing in Preston and McCormack for a 4-0 Locos lead.

From then on out, the game belonged to the Lugnuts.

After Dorstewitz tossed a scoreless second inning before yielding to LaLumia, who blanked the Nuts on one hit and two walks from the third through the fifth innings, striking out five.

Patten made his Lemonade League debut in the sixth and struck out four batters, necessitated by a second throwing error by catcher Sotres on a strikeout and dropped-third-strike against Sean Haddlesey (Albion).

Meanwhile, the Lugnuts’ offense carved away at the deficit.

In the second inning, Jake Rydquist (GVSU) walked and scored on a Brendan Bilkovic (Wayne State) wild pitch, and it was 4-1.

In the fourth inning, Sotres walked against Ryan Abenth (Concordia) and scored on a Darryn Davis single, and it was 4-2.

In the fifth inning, Connelly singled off Nick O’Dea (Wayne State) and scored on a Zaid Walker (MSU) single to make it 4-3. Walker stole second base, was balked to third and came in on a Colin Cornwell (SVSU), and the score was tied at 4-4.

In the sixth inning, with two outs and no one on, Darryn Davis (pictured above) tripled to right-center and Connelly followed with a ground ball just outside the range of Locos shortstop Brandon Scheurer (SVSU), giving the Lugnuts their first lead of the game.

Patten nailed down the win despite drama in the seventh. With two outs, Stygles singled and Preston doubled him to third, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. But Patten struck out McCormack, his fifth strikeout, and the Lugnuts had won.

The next Lemonade League game will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Cooley Law School Stadium, with the Cedar Street gate opening at 12 noon. Masks are mandatory.

Lemonade League is a college wood-bat league featuring Minor League Baseball umpires, yellow baseballs, seven-inning games, and extra innings replaced by a one-on-one Home Run Derby – although none was needed on this night. Every Lemonade League game is livestreamed FREE across multiple social and digital platforms, including the Lansing Lugnuts’ Facebook and Twitter pages.

For more information, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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