Oats up! Oat Milkers down Captains, 1-0

LANSING, Mich. – Steven Echavarria fired five innings of one-hit ball, Casey Yamauchi lined an RBI double in the fifth, and the Lansing Lugnuts (24-34, 60-64), playing as the Malmö Oat Milkers, edged the Lake County Captains (35-23, 70-54), 1-0, on Friday evening at Jackson® Field™.

Lansing won its second straight game after nine consecutive defeats and, combined with a Great Lakes 8-1 win over West Michigan, caused Lake County’s lead for the final East Division playoff berth to be trimmed to a half-game.

Echavarria, the 2022-23 Gatorade New Jersey High School Baseball Player of the Year, outdueled fellow 20-year-old Michael Kennedy, the 2022-23 Gatorade New York High School Baseball Player of the Year. He was perfect through the first three innings, stranded a single and a walk in the fourth, fired a 1-2-3 fifth, and departed with three strikeouts on an efficient 60 pitches.

Kennedy matches zeroes for the first four innings, but gave up a one-out single in the fifth to Gunner Gouldsmith, walked Ali Camarillo and – after a strikeout of Cameron Leary – served up Yamauchi’s tie-breaking drive into the left-center gap to bring in the game’s only run.

Yamauchi finished the night 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 29 games.

Ryan Magdic blanked Lake County over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but departed after loading the bases with two outs in the ninth on a pair of infield singles and a walk.

Mark Adamiak entered and retired Johnny Tincher on a routine fly to center, securing the win and his league-leading 20th save, achieved in his league-leading 41st appearance.

Lansing goes for a third straight victory on Fan Appreciation Night, with giveaways, first pitch at 7:05 p.m. between Jake Garland and Caden Favors, and the final LAFCU Fireworks show of the year. For tickets, visit the stadium box office at 505 E. Michigan Ave. in downtown Lansing, call (517) 485-4500 during office hours, or go to lansinglugnuts.com.

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