Dayton (19-31) took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Dave Sappelt singled and eventually scored on Cody Puckett's single to center to make it 1-0.

But Cedar Rapids (30-20) answered with a five-run fifth inning against Dragons starting pitcher Lance Janke. Ryan Groth drilled a two-run home run to give Cedar Rapids a 2-1 lead. After a pair of singles, Lopez hit his second three-run homer in two games to give the Kernels a commanding 5-1 lead.

Dayton's Byron Wiley delivered a one-out triple in the bottom of the fifth and scored on Frank Pfister's ground out to make it 5-2. But Cedar Rapids added a single run in the top of the sixth to again lead by four at 6-2.

The Dragons answered in the bottom of the sixth. Miguel Rojas singled to start the inning and Carlos Mendez followed with a two-run homer to right, his third of the season, to pull the Dragons to within two runs at 6-4.

But Dayton did not have another hit the rest of the way. Cedar Rapids scored once in the seventh to increase their lead to 7-4. The Dragons got the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth after a pair of walks in the inning. But Wiley flied out to left and pinch hitter Stephen Chapman struck out to end the game.

Janke (1-3) suffered the loss. He lasted five and one-third innings, allowing 10 hits and six earned runs with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Dragons collected six hits. Kyle Day's hitting streak ended at eight games as he went 0 for 4.

The Dragons are off on Monday. They will open a four-game series at Fifth Third Field on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. against the South Bend Silver Hawks (24-24). J.C. Sulbaran (2-0, 3.48) will start for the Dragons against Randy Rodriguez (0-1, 2.12).