The Dragons took the lead in the third inning. Victor Acosta walked to start the inning and with one out, Sal Stewart lined a double to the corner in right field to move Acosta to third. Hector Rodriguez lined out to center to bring in Acosta on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
The Dragons scored again in the fourth when Cam Collier drilled a double to the fence in right-center and scored after a pair of wild pitches to make it 2-0. Jay Allen II then walked and scored from first base on a double by Carter Graham to make it 3-0.
South Bend scored in the sixth on a home run by Jonathan Long to pull to within 3-1. But the Dragons responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Acosta was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in one run, and Cade Hunter delivered a two-out, two-run single to make it 6-1.
Dragons relievers Easton Sikorski and John Murphy combined to protect the lead. Sikorski (1-1) was credited with the win. He tossed three innings, allowing two hits and one run with no walks and four strikeouts.
Dragons starting pitcher Jose Franco, who has been limited to three innings per start after coming back from elbow surgery, pitched well in his reduced outing. He tossed three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Trey Braithwaite, returning to action after missing the entire 2023 season with an elbow injury, tossed two scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
Collier was 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.
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