Lundquist and Laws lift Lugs, 9-4

APPLETON, Wisc. - Brock Lundquist brought the pain with two home runs, Colton Laws supplied order with four shutout innings of relief, and the Lansing Lugnuts (20-13) scored nine unanswered runs for a 9-4 triumph over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (13-19) on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

The Lugnuts had dropped the series opener on Monday for their fourth consecutive loss - but responded with 20 total runs in taking the final two games from Wisconsin for a series victory.

This is the fourth straight season that Nuts won two of three games in the season series against the T-Rats.

Pat McInerney and Zach Clark homered in a four-run uprising against Lansing starter Maximo Castillo in the fourth inning, giving Wisconsin a 4-0 lead.

After that, the game belonged to the visitors.

Lundquist, the Blue Jays' sixth-round choice in 2017, led off the fifth inning with a drive that bounced off the top of the center field wall and over for his fifth home run of the season, putting the Lugnuts on the board.

Laws (Win, 1-2), the Jays' 2017 seventh-round selection, relieved Castillo to start the sixth and recorded the final 12 outs, limiting the Rattlers to a Payton Henry two-out double in the sixth inning and a Gabriel Garcia one-out single in the seventh. Along the way, he struck out six Rattlers, including three in the sixth and the first two hitters in the ninth.

In the seventh, Lansing tied the score with a three-run rally against Michael Petersen, thanks to a Matt Morgan RBI double, a Kevin Vicuña RBI groundout and a Norberto Obeso two-out RBI single.

In the eighth, the Nuts loaded the bases against Cody Beckman on an HBP and two walks. Reggie Pruitt flared a two-out, two-run double to center field, misread by a sliding Zach Clark, to give Lansing its first lead of the night, 6-4.

Lundquist applied the icing in the ninth, crushing a three-run homer to right off Beckman, closing out a 2-for-4, 3-run, 4-RBI night. In the process, he joined Kacy Clemens and Christian Williams as Lugnuts with multi-homer games this season.

Pruitt went 3-for-4 to aid the offensive effort for Lansing, with Chavez Young and Obeso collecting two base hits apiece.

The Lugnuts next head to Pohlman Field to open a three-game series against the Beloit Snappers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, sending right-hander Yennsy Diaz (2.56 ERA) against Snappers right-hander Mitchell Jordan (2.70).

The Nuts return to Cooley Law School Stadium on Monday, May 14th, opening a seven-game homestand on a Dog Days of Summer. To purchase tickets and live the Lug Life, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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