Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy homer in Hens victory

Toledo Mud Hens 7, Columbus Clippers 3 (box)

The Hens jumped out to an early lead and poured it on to win going away on Friday night.

They gave Tigers fans exactly what they wanted in the first inning. Justyn-Henry Malloy launched a solo shot with one out in the top of the first, and after Nick Maton struck out, Andre Lipcius drew a walk to keep the inning alive for Colt Keith. It was good that he did, as Keith proceeded to unleash an absolute bomb to right field to make it 3-0 Hens. The two-run shot, his second in three games at the Triple-A level, left the bat at 108 mph and travelled 473 feet out of the park onto the road beyond the right field concourse. They don’t go much farther than that, folks.

Starter Bryan Sammons allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but the Hens came back for more in the fourth. Johan Camargo doubled with one out and Andrew Knapp cracked a two-run shot to make it 5-2.

They got two more on RBI singles from Keith and Camargo, as Keith posted his second three-hit game in three total games with the Hens. Micah Pries hit a solo shot off of Brenan Hanifee in the bottom half of the inning, but Sean Guenther and Aneurys Zabala locked down the eighth and ninth.

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

Malloy: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 SO, SB

Camargo: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B

Sammons: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 SO

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with old friend Daniel Norris pitching for the Clippers.

Akron RubberDucks 1, Erie SeaWolves 0 (Gm 1)(F/8)(box)

Game 1 saw Wilmer Flores put together a really strong outing, but the offense couldn’t push a run across for him. Flores spun six innings of three-hit ball with two walks and five strikeouts. Unfortunately, despite issuing five walks, southpaw Doug Nikhazy managed to hold the SeaWolves off the board for five innings.

Blake Holub spun a scoreless seventh, but right-hander Davis Sharpe blanked the SeaWolves for three innings of relief, striking out five. In the top of the eighth, a ground ball moved the runner on second to third, and a sacrifice fly brought him home. The SeaWolves couldn’t advance Trei Cruz beyond second base.

Flores: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 SO

Erie SeaWolves 6, Akron RubberDucks 2 (Gm 2)(F/7)(box)

Ty Madden was pretty good in this one and the SeaWolves unleashed four home runs to take game 2 on Friday night.

Madden tossed five innings of two run ball with seven strikeouts. He was staked to a two-run lead in the bottom of the third when Gage Workman and Ben Malgeri launched back-to-back home runs. Madden allowed a solo shot in the fourth and another run in the fifth that tied things up, but the offense had his back. Jake Holton homered with one out in the bottom of the fifth, and two batters later Malgeri went yard again to make it 4-2.

Adam Wolf held Akron off the board in the sixth, and in the bottom half Wenceel Perez led off with a double and then scored on a ground ball to shortstop from Andrew Navigato. Navigato reached on an error on the first baseman and took second base on the play. After Chris Meyers struck out, Navigato stole third and the catcher threw it away, allowing the SeaWolves’ shortstop to race home. Wolf took the seventh as well, collecting his second save.

Malgeri: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR

Navigato: 1-2, R, 2B, BB, SB

Madden (W, 2-1): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 7 SO

Coming Up Next: A 6:05 p.m. ET start will feature LHP Brant Hurter (3-3, 3.05 ERA) taking on the RubberDucks’ RHP Hunter Stanley (3-5, 4.43 ERA).

Dayton Dragons 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 6 (Gm 1)(F/8)(box)

The Whitecaps built a nice lead in game 1 on Friday, but the Dragons stormed back late to win in extra innings.

Jace Jung and Eliezer Alfonzo walked with two outs in the bottom of the first, and Jung scored on an Izaac Pacheco single. Dillon Paulson led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot, his third with the Whitecaps. They didn’t stop there as Lazaro Benitez doubled to lead off the fourth and with one out, Dom Johnson was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a Luis Garcia ground out to first. A Carlos Mendoza single scored them both to make it 4-0.

Lefty Carlos Pena put together a really strong outing through five innings, allowing just two singles and a walk while racking up the strikeouts. He quickly got the first two outs in the sixth but things unraveled with a single, a walk, and an RBI single to make it 4-1. Chavez Fernander took over and immediately gave up a two-run single, and then a two-run home run to make it 5-4 Dayton.

The Whitecaps shook that off in the final scheduled inning via the blazing speed of Dom Johnson. The outfielder reached on a ground ball to third and then stole second base, scoring on a Roberto Campos ground ball that was thrown away as Dayton tried to turn the double play. Things were tied at five, and it was on to extra innings.

Dayton scored two in the top of the eighth, so the ‘Caps needed another comeback in the bottom half. With Jung on second, Alfonzo singled him home, but that was all they’d get.

Mendoza: 2-4, 2 RBI

Paulson: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, SO

Jung: 1-3, 2 R, BB, SB

Pena: 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 SO

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Dayton Dragons 3 (Gm 2)(F/8)(box)

The nightcap saw a reversal of the events of game 1. This time it was Dayton jumping out to a lead and then getting caught and eventually beat in extra innings.

It was a bullpen day for West Michigan and Angel Reyes spun two scoreless innings, but then was tagged for three runs in the third with Michael Bienlien taking over to get the final two outs of the inning. Bienlien, Cam Brown, and Gabriel Sequeira blanked the Dragons the rest of the way.

Down to their final three outs, the Whitecaps finally struck. Izaac Pacheco started them off with a solo shot, his eighth on the year. Luis Santana drew a walk with one out and Lazaro Benitez followed with a single and Austin Murr walked as well, loading the bases. Roberto Campos struck out, but Dayton’s Jayvien Sandridge could not find the strike zone. He walked both Jace Jung and Brady Allen, forcing in the tying runs before getting Eliezer Alfonzo to strike out and send this to the eighth.

Sequeira did a nice job keeping Dayton off the board in the top half. The Whitecaps pinch-ran Dom Johnson for Alfonzo at second and a two-out single from Luis Santana was enough for Johnson to race home with the walkoff winner.

Pacheco: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, 2B, SO

Santana: 1-2, R, RBI, 2 BB

Reyes: 2.1 IP, 3 ER, H, 4 BB, 2 SO

Coming Up Next: RHP Garrett Burhenn (4-3, 3.00 ERA) takes on RHP Julian Aguiar (4-1, 1.97 ERA) Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 2 (box)

Mussels’ starter Develson Aria had a ton of control problems early in this one. He staked the Flying Tigers to an early lead and they cruised to victory.

The top of the first opened with a walk to J.D. McLaughlin and then a wild pitch. Luke Gold singled him to third, and then Aria walked four straight hitters to force across three runs before they had to go get him. His replacement cleaned up the mess with only a Cristian Santana sacrifice fly adding to the damage done. Jose De La Cruz singled in Andrew Jenkins in the second, and Lakeland held a 5-0 lead.

Edgardo Ibarra struggled with his control in this one, issuing four walks, and he gave up single runs in the third and fourth before being lifted. Eric Mendez cleaned up the final out of the fourth inning tossed a clean fifth. Eiker Huizi and Jose Diaz each spun two scoreless innings apiece from there, with Diaz racking up three strikeouts.

The Flying Tigers answered back in the fifth when Archer Brookman singled home Jose De La Cruz, who’d led the inning off with a single of his own. In the eighth, Luke Gold walked and stole second before scoring on a Jenkins single to make it 7-2.

De La Cruz: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SO, SB

Brookman: 2-4, 2 RBI, BB, SO

Gold: 1-4, 2 R, BB, SO, SB

Ibarra: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, SO

Coming Up Next: First pitch on Saturday night is set for 6:00 p.m. ET.