Colt Keith goes yard twice in weekend action on the Tigers’ farm

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Omaha Storm Chasers 1 (Saturday)(box)

Omaha Storm Chasers 8, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (Sunday)(box)

The Hens were down 1-3 in the series after Friday’s loss, and they won on Saturday courtesy of an excellent start from Reese Olson.

The right-hander has had a pretty awful start to the season, but settled in somewhat his last time out. On Saturday he owned the Storm Chaser for five innings, allowing just a single and two walks over five innings, striking out nine. Olson did a lot better job commanding his fastball in this one, working in and out better and jamming a pretty good hitting Omaha lineup with inside heat before racking up whiffs on his slider and especially the changeup.

He faded a little bit late in his outing, but early on the Storm Chasers had no answers for him.

The Hens didn’t a whole lot offensively either, finally getting on the board in the fifth inning. Corey Joyce singled to lead off the top of the inning, but Jermaine Palacios flew out, and Justyn-Henry Malloy grounded into a force of Joyce at second. Parker Meadows battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before getting rung up. However, a challenge of the call showed it was actually ball four and Meadows walked. Tyler Nevin singled to center to score Malloy, and it was 1-0 Hens.

Omaha gave the Hens a couple more runs in the sixth. Donny Sands led off with a single and Jonathan Davis struck out to start things off. Michael Papierski and Corey Joyce both got hit by Omaha reliever James McArthur, and then Palacios walked to force in a run. Then Malloy also walked to force in a run. Parker Meadows flew out, which developed into a double play as Palacios was thrown out at third trying to take an extra base, but Joyce scored on the play to make it 4-0.

A wild pitch from Garrett Hill and a throwing error from Papierski helped the Storm Chasers get a run on the board in the seventh, but Hill and Miguel Diaz locked it down the rest of the way.

Nevin: 1-4, RBI, BB, SO

Davis, Jo: 1-3, BB, SO

Olson (W, 2-3): 5.0 IP, 0 ER, H, 2 BB, 9 SO

Sunday for the Hens went much like it did for the Tigers. They pounded out 15 hits but scored only four runs as the Storm Chasers took the series 4-2 with an 8-4 victory.

The Hens struck early when Andre Lipcius and Jonathan Davis each launched solo shots in the second inning. Omaha got one back against Hens’ starter Ashton Goudeau when Drew Water homered in the third. Donny Sands led off the fourth with a double and scored on a Steele Walker single to make it 3-1 Hens.

From there it was pretty much all Omaha. They scored three more against Goudeau in the bottom of the fourth, then tore up Seth Elledge for three runs in the sixth before cruising to victory.

Lipcius: 4-5, R, 2 RBI, HR

Malloy: 2-5, 2 2B, SO

Meadows: 2-5, 2B

Davis, Jo: 2-4, R, RBI, HR

Coming Up Next: The Hens welcome in the Rochester Red Wings for six starting Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Harrisburg Senators 10, Erie SeaWolves 8 (Saturday)(box)

Harrisburg Senators 8, Erie SeaWolves 6 (Sunday)(box)

After evening the series up on Friday, the SeaWolves dropped the last two of the series to lose it 4-2 to Harrisburg. However, while the SeaWolves lost, Colt Keith continued to rage.

Saturday’s contest got off to a good start. Trei Cruz, settling into more of a utility role now and playing a lot of centerfield while finally flashing some power at the plate, led off the game with a walk. Colt Keith singled him to third where he’d score on a Wenceel Perez sacrifice fly. Keith later scored on a Grant Witherspoon doubled to make it 2-0.

Unfortunately, Keider Montero’s outing melted down as the Senators scored six in the second inning. There was bit of bad luck as a liner with two outs ticked off Montero’s glove and everyone was safe. Drew Millas followed that up with a grand slam that ended Montero’s outing.

The SeaWolves didn’t go away though. Daniel Cabrera doubled in Diego Rincones in the top of the fourth, though reliever RJ Petit allowed a run in the bottom half of the inning as well.

The SeaWolves got two more in the fifth when Perez led off with a single and Dillon Dingler followed with a walk. RBI singles from Jake Holton and Rincones followed to make it 7-5 Omaha.

In the sixth, Cruz tripled off the center field wall to start the inning. Keith followed with his eighth home run and third on the week to tie the game.

Unfortunately, in the bottom of the seventh, Andrew Magno allowed three runs as the Storm Chasers regained control for good.

Keith: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 SO

Perez: 2-4, R, RBI

Cruz: 1-4, 2 R, 3B, BB, 3 SO

Montero: 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 SO

On Sunday, Ty Madden had a pretty shaky outing in the control department. He surrendered three runs in 3 ²⁄₃ innings. Reliever Bryce Tassin had an even worse day, allowing five runs, three earned, in the fifth inning.

The SeaWolves scored two in the third when Luis Santana singled and took second on a passed ball. Andrew Navigato grounded out, but Keith walked and Wenceel Perez came up with a two-run double to left. In the fifth, Keith led off with a double and advanced to third on a Perez sacrifice fly. Dillon Dingler reached on an error as Keith scored, and singles from Holton and Rincones plated Dingler. At that point it was 4-3 Erie, but Tassin’s blowout inning put them in a deep hole in the bottom half.

They wouldn’t dig their way out of it, but Keith did crush home run number nine on the year with no one aboard in the sixth. Doubles from Ben Malgeri and Witherspoon led to the SeaWolves last run in the eighth.

Keith: 3-4, 3 R, RBI, HR, 2B, BB

Perez: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2B, SO

Malgeri: 2-3, R, 2 2B, BB

Madden: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 SO

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves welcome in the Somerset Patriots for six starting at 6:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.

West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Great Lakes Loons 0 (Saturday)(box)

Great Lakes Loons 6, West Michigan Whitecaps 3 (Sunday)(box)

The Whitecaps ended up taking only two of six in Midland. They won convincingly on Saturday behind a nice start from Jack O’Loughlin, but the Loons bounced back to take them down on Sunday.

O’Loughlin blanked the Loons for five innings on Saturday, and he got plenty of early run support. In the top of the second, Eliezer Alfonzo led off with a single and Dillon Paulson followed with a walk. Luis Garcia struck out but Carlos Mendoza followed with a two-run triple. Mendoza scored on a Jace Jung single, and it was 3-0. Danny Serretti struck out, but with two outs Izaac Pacheco singled and then took second on a wild pitch from the Loons Jerming Rosario. Rosario then walked Justice Bigbie and was replaced only for his relief to walk Austin Murr, forcing it the fourth run of the inning. Alfonzo came to the plate again and singled in Pacheco before the Loons finally got out of the inning. Dillon Paulson added a solo shot in the seventh, his first homer for the Whitecaps this season.

Pacheco: 3-5, R, 2B, SO

Alfonzo: 3-5, R, RBI

Paulson: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB

O’Loughlin (W, 2-3): 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, 4 SO

Sunday’s loss saw the Whitecaps’ bullpen take a beating in the middle innings. They were down 2-0 in the top of the fifth when Danny Serretti led off with a double. A batter later Chris Meyers unleashed a titanic home run to right center field that left the park. From there the Loons scored four unanswered runs until Meyers crushed a solo shot in the top of the ninth.

Meyers: 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 2B

Williander Moreno: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H

Coming Up Next: The Lake County Captains come to Comstock Park for six starting on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 3 (F/7)(Saturday)(box)

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 5 (Sunday)(box)

On Saturday, the Flying Tigers had an early lead twice, but it slipped away before rain arrived and turned this into a seven inning affair.

The Mussels spotted Lakeland a run when Manuel Sequera walked with two outs. Jose De La Cruz struck out swinging, but the ball got away from the catcher, who then made an errant throw as Sequera went from first to home on the play, with De La Cruz ending up on second.

The Mussels got a pair of runs against Ulices Campos in the top of the second, but an Adinso Reyes ground rule double in the bottom half led to a Flying Tigers run when Moises Valero singled and then stole second. The throw from the catcher was wide of the mark, and Reyes scored from third to tie things at 2-2. In the bottom of the third, Peyton Graham and Sequera started the inning with singles, and Graham scored on a Jose De La Cruz sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 Lakeland. Unfortunately it was all Fort Myers from there, and the game ended after the Mussels batted in the top of the seventh.

Graham: 2-3, R, CS

Sequera: 1-2, R, BB, SO

Campos (L, 0-4): 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 SO

On Sunday, things went much better as Sergio Tapia launched a walkoff homer to win it.

Starter Carlos Marcano gave the Flying Tigers a decent four inning start, allowing two runs. Lakeland was down a run in the bottom of the fourth when Seth Stephenson led off with a double and Carlos Pelegrin reached on a bunt single. Pelegrin then stole second base. Manuel Sequera and Jose De La Cruz struck out, but Adinso Reyes reached on a throwing error from Fort Myers’ catcher and Stephenson and Pelegrin both scored.

Marcano allowed a run in the top of the fifth, as did reliever Quinn Gudaitis, as Fort Myers took a 3-2 lead. However, the Flying Tigers came back with two more in the bottom of the fifth on RBI hits from Stephenson and Pelegrin. Adinso Reyes smacked a solo shot, his third homer of the year, in the bottom of the sixth, and it was 5-3 Lakeland.

Reliever Cleiverth Perez was wild in this one, and was lucky that only two runs scored in the top of the seventh as he issued two free passes and then a two-run triple. Eiker Huizi was able to snuff any further rally and strand the runner at third. Finally, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Sergio Tapia stepped to the dish and cracked his first home run of the year to walk off the Mighty Mussels.

Tapia: 3-4, 2 R, RBI, HR

Stephenson: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B

Pelegrin: 2-4, R, SO, SB

Marcano: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 SO

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers head to Daytona Beach to take on the Tortugas starting Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. ET from Jackie Robinson Ballpark.