Lugs hold on, grab Game 1 at Great Lakes

MIDLAND, Mich. - The Lansing Lugnuts broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the seventh and then held on tight to defeat the Great Lakes Loons, 6-5, in Game 1 of the Midwest League postseason on Wednesday night at Dow Diamond.

The best-of-three series now shifts to Lansing's Cooley Law School Stadium for Game 2 on Thursday night, with the Lugs one win away from advancing to the Eastern Division Finals.

The Lugnuts took three separate leads in the game, 1-0 in the second inning, 3-2 in the fifth and finally 6-3 in the seventh, using a Ryan McBroom sacrifice fly and RBI hits from D.J. Davis and David Harris to break on top against reliever Luis DePaula (Loss, 0-1).

The sequence of rallies supported All-Star Shane Dawson (Win, 1-0), who celebrated his 22nd birthday with six innings of three-run, eight-strikeout baseball.

But the Loons made sure it would not come easy.

In the seventh inning, Michael Ahmed greeted new reliever Dusty Isaacs with a solo home run to left, bringing the lead down to 6-4.

In the eighth, Garrett Kennedy took Jose Fernandez deep to right, shaving the cushion down to one run.

Fernandez (Save, 1) bore down from there, setting down the final four Loons in a row to finish a heartpounding victory.

Both Jason Leblebijian and Gunnar Heidt finished with three hits in the victory, with Heidt delivering a pair of doubles off of Loons starting pitcher Grant Holmes. The 19-year-old phenom lasted only 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, two walks and three runs.

Game 2 of the playoff series is a 7:05 p.m. Labatt Thirsty Thursday at Cooley Law School Stadium, featuring $2 beers and $2 sodas. Attend the game wearing Michigan State gear and you could win two tickets to cheer on the the Spartans against the Oregon Ducks at Spartan Stadium! Go Green! Go Nuts!

Lansing will start right-hander Justin Shafer (7-4, 2.96) against Loons right-hander Andrew Sopko (3-1, 2.74).

To purchase tickets, call (517) 485-4500 or visit lansinglugnuts.com.

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