Holton Homers Twice in 6-0 Shutout
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Home runs and dominant pitching made the difference on a bitterly cold April afternoon as the West Michigan Whitecaps powered past the Lansing Lugnuts with a 6-0 win Saturday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark. Whitecaps first baseman Jake Holton blasted home runs in consecutive at-bats for the
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Home runs and dominant pitching made the difference on a bitterly cold April afternoon as the West Michigan Whitecaps powered past the Lansing Lugnuts with a 6-0 win Saturday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark.
Whitecaps first baseman Jake Holton blasted home runs in consecutive at-bats for the first time in his professional career. The 24-year-old infielder was involved in all six runs with four RBIs, and two runs scored in a victory played in temperatures that hovered around the freezing level of 32 degrees. Meanwhile, 'Caps pitching allowed just three hits while striking out ten Lugnuts hitters for their second shutout in three games.
Holton got the 'Caps on the board with a two-run homer in the first inning, delivering West Michigan the 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Whitecaps starter Jack O'Loughlin silenced Lansing with four shutout innings and struck out four as Holton added his second home run in the third inning, a two-run shot, to help extend the lead to 4-0. Tigers no. 9 prospect Dylan Smith took over for O'Loughlin in the fifth. He tossed three innings of scoreless baseball as Andrew Navigato added an RBI-double before Holton collected his fourth RBI with a walk to slam the door on a 6-0 shutout victory.
The Whitecaps improve to 6-2 and now sit in first place in the Midwest League East Division, while the Lugnuts fall to 2-6. Smith (1-0) secures his first win, going three innings while allowing just one hit while striking out five. Lansing starter and University of Michigan graduate Jeff Criswell (0-1) allowed four earned runs through five innings in his first loss. The Whitecaps have scored four or more runs in each of their first eight games of the 2022 season.
The final time of the game was 2:15, the shortest game the Whitecaps have played since a 1:54 ballgame played against the Lugnuts back on April 8th, 2019, in Lansing.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps finish this series against the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday afternoon from LMCU Ballpark at 2:00 pm. West Michigan is expected to start Detroit Tigers Top-10 Prospect Ty Madden against Osvaldo Berrios for Lansing. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 1:45 pm. Get your tickets for all 2022 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.