BELOIT—The Beloit Sky Carp came into ABC Supply Stadium on Sunday afternoon and took a note from rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive.
The Sky Carp were takin’ care of business as Ike Buxton delivered five strong innings, the bullpen tossed four shutout frames and the lineup produced nine hits in a 7-2 victory over the Dayton Dragons in front of a crowd of 1,851 enjoying mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures.
“We came out with a good attitude to even up the series,” shortstop Johnny Olmstead said. “Ike came out pounding the zone and got us off to a good start. We were able to put some runs up on the board, and then the rest of the staff took care of business as the day went on.”
The two teams split the six-game series with three wins apiece.
It was a much needed performance from Buxton, who had given up at least three earned runs in four of his last five starts.
“We staked Ike with a six-run lead (after two innings) and he just ran with it,” manager Billy Gardner Jr. said. “It was a positive outing for him, no walks over five innings and his stuff was really good.”
The Dragons struck on Buxton in the second after Ethan O’Donnell singled, moved to second an out later on a groundout and scored on Victor Acosta’s single back up the middle. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning.
Another run came home for Dayton in the fifth when Acosta singled before being replaced by Jose Serrano at first on a fielder’s choice. Serrano went to third on Jay Allen’s double to deep center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlo Jorge to right but Buxton got a groundout to end the threat.
Buxton finished with five hits allowed with seven strikeouts, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning in the third and fourth.
Beloit’s pitching staff is tied for second in the Midwest League with a 3.84 ERA, and it got a big boost with top Miami Marlins’ prospect Noble Meyer and No. 3 prospect Thomas White, both right-handed pitchers, joining this past week.
“It’s awesome playing behind these guys,” Olmstead said of his pitchers. “And when they’re going good, it’s extremely fun to watch them do their thing. We got some talented arms that have been doing good stuff for us all season.”
The Sky Carp scored three runs in the first after Mark Coley and Jake Thompson led off with singles and, an out later, the bases were loaded after Torin Montgomery’s walk. Olmstead cleared them when he ripped a triple into the gap in center field.
“I was just trying to get something up in the zone that I could drive to the big part of the field,” Olmstead said. “Just keep it simple. He gave me something on the first pitch, and I was able to shoot it out there and come through for the guys.”
Olmstead, who is second on the team with his .264 average, finished 3-for-4 with a run scored.
“Johnny’s a grinder and a blue-collar type kid that's always ready to play,” Gardner said. “Every time he steps to the plate he's going to compete and give you a good AB.”
Olmstead scored when Cameron Barstad grounded out to first and Beloit added two more runs in the second when Josh Zamora’s bloop single dropped in between two fielders gunning for the ball.
Osiris Johnson’s RBI single in the fifth completed the scoring for the Sky Carp, which had their top three hitters in the order in Coley, Jake Thompson and Zamora combine for five hits, three runs and two RBI.
“As any lineup does, you can go through some ups and downs, but I think that we're moving in the right direction,” Olmstead said. “We've got a lot of pieces top to bottom that are very, very good and will continue to produce for us as the year goes on.”
Josh Ekness threw two clean innings with three strikeouts out of the bullpen for Beloit while Josh White also struck out three in two scoreless innings.
The Sky Carp will have Monday off before staying at ABC Supply Stadium for a six-game series with the Lake County Captains that begins on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
“The fans have been fantastic this week,” Olmstead said. “It's been super fun playing in front of a bigger crowd than at the beginning of the year, and I can't thank everyone enough for showing up and supporting us.”
• SKY CARP FAITHFUL FLOCK TO ABC SUPPLY: Just two weeks after breaking the all-time weekend record at ABC Supply Stadium against the Peoria Chiefs, the Sky Carp broke the mark with 8,806 fans enjoying the ballpark over the past three days.
• FRIDAY’S RECAP: Coley scored on a wild pitch and Zamora blasted a two run-double to left to help the Sky Carp comeback from two-run deficit with a three-run eighth in a 6-5 victory in front of a crowd of 3,790.
Jake DeLeo hit a two-run homer in the fifth and White made his Beloit debut in stellar fashion by striking out six and allowing an unearned run on two hits in four innings.
• SATURDAY’S RECAP: It was Dayton’s turn to be the comeback kings as it poured on all fours of its runs in the eighth for the 4-2 win in front of a crowd of 3,165.
Sam Praytor hit a two-run bomb in the fifth and Meyer allowed just two hits while striking out six in five scoreless innings in his first appearance as a Sky Carp.
• BOXSCORE:
SKY CARP 7, DRAGONS 2
Dayton 010 010 000 — 2 6 1
Beloit 42 001 000 — 7 9 0
DAYTON (ab-r-h-rbi) — Allen, dh, 4-0-1-0, Jorge, cf, 3-0-0-1, Rodriguez, lf, 4-0-2-0, Collier, 3b, 3-0-0-0, O’Donnell, rf, 4-1-1-0, Tanner, c, 4-0-0-0, Balcazar, ss, 2-0-0-0, Acosta, 2b, 4-0-2-1, Serrano, 1b, 3-1-0-0. Totals: 31-2-6-2.
BELOIT (ab-r-h-rbi) — Coley, lf, 5-1-2-0, Thompson, rf, 3-2-2-0, Luttrell, rf, 1-0-0-0, Zamora, 3b, 4-0-1-2, Montgomery, 1b, 2-2-0-0, Olmstead, ss, 4-1-2-3, Barstad, c, 3-0-0-1, Santiago, 2b, 4-0-0-0, Johnson, cf, 3-0-1-1, Fernandez, dh, 3-1-1-0. Totals: 32-7-9-7.
E: Mey. PO: Barstad (1st base by Sikkema). DP: Dayton 0, Beloit 1. LOB: Dayton 6, Beloit 7. 2B: Allen, Thompson, Coley. 3B: Olmstead. SF: Jorge.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Dayton, Sikkema (L,1-2,3.0-6-6-6-1-1), Sikorski (3.0-3-1-1-2-2), Murphy (1.0-0-0-0-0-1), Mey (1.0-0-0-0-2-2). Beloit, Buxton (W,1-4,5.0-2-2-0-7), Ekness (2.0-0-0-0-0-3), White (2.0-1-0-0-2-3).
HBP: Balcazar (by Buxton); Barstad (by Sikkema). T: 2:33. Att: 1,851.
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