Tigers prospect Derek Hill homers as Flying Tigers roll

Louisville Bats 9, Toledo Mud Hens 6 (box)

The Bats raced out to a quick 3-0 lead off starter Ryan Carpenter. The Hens came back in third with a four run inning, with the key blow coming from a bases loaded triple from Christin Stewart that drove in all three baserunners. Carpenter faltered in the sixth, however, allowing three singles to start the inning. Mark Montgomery came on in relief, and while he was victimized by two errors along the way, six runs would eventually cross the plate, though none were officially charged to him. Stewart has a three hit game with both a double and the aforementioned triple. Grayson Greiner doubled and drove in a pair of runs, while Paul Voelker, Zac Reininger and Louis Coleman gave the Hens three innings of scoreless relief work.

Stewart: 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI
Greiner: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SO
Carpenter (L): 5.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 6 SO

Coming up next: The Hens take a 13-6 record into Saturday’s contest with the Bats. Josh Turley and his magic knuckleball will battle Jose Lopez with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. ET.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies 13, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)

Spencer Turnbull got blown out of this one, exiting after five innings with five runs charged to him in another poor outing. A parade of relievers fared no better until Zac Houston finally came on in the eighth and shut things down with a three strikeout performance in getting the final four outs. Sergio Alcantara and Dominic Ficociello accounted for the SeaWolves’ only run and each tallied a pair of hits in this one.

Alcantara: 2-4, R
Ficociello: 2-4, 2B, RBI
Turnbull (L): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

Coming up next: Erie takes a 7-12 record into Saturday’s game with the Ponies. Kyle Funkhouser gets the start at 6:05 p.m. ET. His opposing pitcher has yet to be announced.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 9, Florida Fire Frogs 1 (box)

The Flying Tigers’ offense crushed Frogs pitching on Friday. Derek Hill hit his first home run of the season, lifting out a two-run shot in the third. Danny Pinero also homered in the second four-run inning of the game for the good guys. Daz Cameron and Isaac Paredes each doubled twice and scored a run. Starter Tom de Blok wasn’t overpowering, but he and reliever Spenser Watkins held the Frogs in check.

Hill: 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Cameron: 2-4, 2 2B, R, RBI, BB, SO
Paredes: 2-3, 2 2B, R, 2 BB, SO
de Blok (W): 6.0 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Coming up next: The Flying Tigers (10-12) send Gregory Soto to duel Tucker Davidson on Saturday, with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. ET with the Saturday night Fireworks Extravaganza to follow.

Lansing Lugnuts 11, West Michigan Whitecaps 7 (F/7) (box)

Jesus Rodriguez got hit really hard right out of the gate in this one, and Max Green wasn’t able to do much better than relief. The big story for the Whitecaps was the arrival of the Tigers second round pick in the 2017 draft, outfielder Reynaldo Rivera. He showed out in his first action of the season with a pair of doubles. It was a well-rounded offensive performance otherwise, but the margin was just too much to overcome.

Rivera: 2-4, 2 2B, R, RBI
Bortles: 1-2, R, RBI, SO|
Rodriguez (L): 4.0 IP, 6 H, 9 R (5 ER), 3 BB, SO

West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lansing Lugnuts 4 (F/7) (box)

The Whitecaps pulled back to within a half-game of the first place Lugnuts with a victory in the nightcap. Catcher Brady Policelli homered and tripled to pace the offense. Luke Burch and Garrett McCain each chipped in with two-hit games as well. Burris Warner and John Hayes combined for nine strikeouts, with all four runs coming unearned.

Policelli: 3-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, SO
Rivera: 1-3, BB, SO
McCain: 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

Coming up next: Notre Dame product Brad Bass looks to build on his early success as he takes on Maximo Castillo with first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET.