Dayton, Ohio — Four Great Lakes pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Loons edged the Dayton Dragons 1-0 on Friday night.
The Dragons’ only hit of the game came with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Hayden Jones lined a single to left-center field. After Jones’ single, the four remaining Dayton batters were retired including three on strikeouts.
Dragons hitters drew two walks in the game and also had a batter reach base when he was hit by a pitch, but they did not advance a runner past first base.
Dayton pitchers limited Great Lakes to just two hits on the night. The Loons had only two runners past second base.
The only run of the game came in the top of the first inning when Great Lakes catcher Dalton Rushing lined a double to right field with two outs to bring in Alex Freeland from third. Freeland had walked earlier in the inning.
Dragons starting pitcher Thomas Farr was outstanding over five innings, allowing one run on two hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Farr has thrown 10 innings for the Dragons this season and posted a 1.80 ERA, allowing just two earned runs.
Brooks Crawford replaced Farr to start the sixth inning and tossed two scoreless frames without allowing a hit. He walked three and struck out two.
Vin Timpanelli pitched the final two innings for Dayton and retired all six hitters he faced with two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the ninth, Great Lakes closer Jake Pilarski fired a 100 mph fastball after reaching 99 mph several times. Loons starter Ben Casparius earned the win with six no-hit innings.
The Loons have won three of four games in the six-game series with a pair of day games still to be played.
Up Next: The Dragons (2-5) host the Loons (3-4) at Day Air Ballpark on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Julian Aguiar (0-0, 0.00) will make his second start of the year for Dayton.
Aguiar tossed five innings last Saturday at Lake County and struck out nine without surrendering an earned run.
