Not rain, wind nor LumberKing could stop the Cedar Rapids Kernels Thursday night.

The Kernels outlasted a near-three hour rain delay midway through the first game of their doubleheader with Clinton and ultimately claimed a much-needed sweep with wins of 5-3 and 3-2.

A crowd of 1,651 patiently braved the elements at Veterans Memorial Stadium. They weren’t all there at the beginning, however.

With storms in the forecast, the teams began the opener of their twinbill a half hour early in an attempt to get at least one game in before rain hit the area. It was a good idea, but starting 45 minutes early may have been even better.

After three quick scoreless innings, Niko Goodrum, Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks started the Kernels’ fourth inning with consecutive singles to plate a run. Moments after the last out of the inning, however, the skies opened up and the Kernels grounds crew scrambled to fight the rain and high winds to get the tarp on the infield.

For some time thereafter, it appeared the Kernels would fall an inning short of the minimum five innings for an official game, but after a 2-hour, 56-minute delay, the teams retook the field and the Kernels went on to win and pick up a pair of much needed victories.

The Kernels hit well, fielded well and pitched well Thursday night, but Manager Jake Mauer knew exactly who to credit for his team even having an opportunity to notch those wins.

“These guys got the tarp on. I don’t know how they got that tarp on. I mean it was howling. If they don’t get that tarp on, we’ve got no chance (of resuming play), none," Mauer said. "So that's a credit to Jesse (Roeder) and the crew and everybody that pitched in, the front office. To get those two games in, that was pretty good.”

In Game 1, Tyler Duffey looked strong before the rain arrived, throwing four shutout innings and striking out five LumberKings in the process. Alex Muren picked up the win by coaxing the only hitter he faced to hit into a double play to end the sixth inning.

Adam Brett Walker contributed a leadoff triple in the Kernels’ sixth inning and after a walk to Travis Harrison, Tyler Grimes launched a three-run home run to left field that provided the margin of victory for the Kernels.

In the nightcap, newly arrived pitcher Hein Robb got his first start since joining the Kernels on Monday. The lefty from South Africa started strong with a 1-2-3 first inning, but he took a line drive off the back of his pitching shoulder from the first batter he faced in the second inning. Robb went on to complete three innings of work, giving up two runs, both earned, in the third inning.

“He tightened up a little bit,” said Mauer. “(The ball) wasn’t coming out of his hand the same.”

Harrison’s ninth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning, provided what proved to be the winning run.

Josue Montanez notched his first save of the season. After giving up a leadoff double to Clinton leadoff hitter Jabari Henry to start the Clinton seventh inning, Montanez fielded a bunt cleanly for the first out, got Dario Pizzarro to pop out to shallow right field and struck out Guillermo Pimentel to end the game.

“Now that the weather has warmed up, (Montanez) looks like a different cat,” Mauer said. “Gives up a leadoff double and doesn’t flinch. Executes. Guy bunts it back to him, gets the out. Pop up. Strike out. Pretty good.”

Mauer likes the way his team has responded to adversity this week after dropping six straight games. “Harrison’s red hot. Buxton’s back. Grimes hit a big three-run home run. Get things going like that when you can score at the bottom of the lineup, we’re going to be pretty tough again.”

FIRST GAME

CLINTON (3): Henry, cf, 2 0 1 0, Pizzano, lf, 4 0 2 1, GPimentel, dh, 4 0 0 0, Kivlehan, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Zorrilla, rf, 3 1 2 0, Littlewood, c, 3 0 1 0, Ard, 1b, 3 1 2 2, Hebert, ss, 3 0 1 0, Marte, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Unsworth, p, 0 0 0 0, Vedo, p, 0 0 0 0, Wood, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 29 3 10 3.

KERNELS (5): Buxton, cf, 3 1 2 0, Goodrum, ss, 3 1 1 0, Polanco, 2b, 3 0 1 0, Hicks, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Walker, rf, 3 1 1 0, Harrison, 3b, 2 1 1 0, Grimes, dh, 3 1 1 3, Quesada, c, 3 0 0 0, Williams, lf, 3 0 0 0, Duffey, p, 0 0 0 0, Gruver, p, 0 0 0 0, Muren, p, 0 0 0 0, Hurlbut, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 5 8 4.

Clinton   000 012 0 - 3 10 1
Kernels   000 113 x - 5  8 1

Unsworth, Vedo (5), Wood (6) and Littlewood. Duffey, Gruver (5), Muren (6), Hurlbut (7) and Quesada. W - Muren (3-0). L - Vedo (4-2). Sv - Hurlbut (4). 2B - Henry (10). 3B - Walker (5). HR - Ard (3), Grimes (4). SB - Buxton (24). E - Hebert (8), Williams (2). T - 2:04.

SECOND GAME

CLINTON (2): Henry, cf, 3 0 1 0, Lopes, 2b, 3 0 1 1, Pizzano, dh, 3 0 0 0, Zorrilla, lf, 1 0 0 0, GPimentel, lf, 2 0 0 0, Marlette, c, 3 0 0 0, Ard, 1b, 2 0 1 0, Guerrero, rf, 3 0 0 0, Lara, 3b, 3 1 1 0, Hebert, ss, 3 1 2 1, Sanchez, p, 0 0 0 0, Ogando, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 2 6 2.

KERNELS (3): Buxton, cf, 3 2 1 0, Goodrum, ss, 3 0 1 0, Polanco, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Hicks, 1b, 3 0 1 2, Wlaker, rf, 3 0 1 0, Harrison, 3b, 2 1 1 1, Grimes, dh, 3 0 1 0, Arias, c, 3 0 0 0, Pineda, lf, 2 0 0 0, Robb, p, 0 0 0 0, Jones, p, 0 0 0 0, Montanez, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 3 6 3.

Clinton   002 000 0 - 2 6 1
Kernels   101 100 x - 3 6 0

Sanchez, Ogando (6) and Marlette. Robb, Jones (4), Montanez (6) and Arias. W - Jones (3-1). L - Sanchez (1-2). Sv - Montanez (1). 2B - Ard (9), Henry (11), Hicks (15). 3B - Lara (2). HR - Harrison (9). SB - Buxton (25). HBP - Harrison (by Sanchez). E - Ard (3). T - 1:58. A - 1,651.