By Luke Tanaka and Max Gun, Radio Broadcasters

Battle Creek, Mich. – The Battle Creek Bombers ended the pre-all-star game portion of their schedule by splitting two games with the Madison Mallards Sunday. The Bombers took a game-one slugfest 12-8, but dropped the nightcap 5-3. 

Battle Creek 12, Madison 8 – The Bombers took game one of the doubleheader against Madison, winning 12-8. The game picked up in the bottom of the first inning after play was halted last night due to rain.
 
Battle Creek struck for four in the first. Brennon Lund (BYU) walked and Dan Swain (Siena) singled to put two runners on with one out against Mallard starter Andrew Beckwith (Coastal Carolina). Lin Li (Taiwan) then singled to score Lund to put Battle Creek in front 1-0. Dre Gleason (Austin Peay) hit a ground ball right back to Beckwith who threw wide of the bag at second, allowing Swain to score on the error, and give the Bombers a 2-0 lead. Niko Pacheco (Cal St Fullerton) walked, and a wild pitch allowed him and Gleason to advance to second and third base, respectably. That set up Matt Simmons (Gardner-Webb) who stroked a single to center field to score both Gleason and Pacheco, and put the Bombers ahead 4-0.
 
Madison chipped away at the Bombers’ 4-0 lead in the third inning, when Tony Butler (Madison College) walked, and eventually scored after Li botched a routine ground ball with two outs. 
 
The Mallards tied the score with three more in the fourth. Logan Browning (Florida) led off the inning with a single, and J.J. Gould (Jacksonville) doubled to put runners at second and third with nobody out. That brought up Bryce Carter (Stanford) who singled home both Browning and Gould, to bring the Mallards within 4-3. Carter eventually scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at four.
 
Battle Creek regained the lead with a big four-run fifth inning. Swain led off with a double, and Cayce Bredlau (Austin Peay) followed with a double of his own to score Swain and give the Bombers a 5-4 lead. That spelled the end of Josh Pierce’s (Central Michigan) outing, and in came Justin Watts (Norhtern Kentucky). Li greeted Watts with a single, and Gleason walked to load the bases with one out. Ryan Budnick (Santa Clara) walked after falling behind in the count to bring in a run and extend the Bombers’ lead to 6-4. The big hit came with two outs, when Christian Helsel (Penn State) singled over the head of the Mallards’ shortstop Butler, to score Li and Gleason, giving Cereal City an 8-4 lead after five innings.
 
The Bombers tacked on another run in the sixth, when Swain walked and eventually scored on a Pacheco single to make it a 9-4 contest in favor of Battle Creek.
 
But Madison wouldn’t go down quietly. The Mallards scored four runs in the seventh inning to pull within one. Scott Tyler (Ball State) singled with one out, and then Jason Goldstein (Illinois) and Logan Browning (Florida) reached on back-to-back fielding errors committed by Li and Helsel, allowing Tyler to cross home plate. Carter continued his hot hitting by driving home two runs for the second time in three at-bats, singling up the middle to score Goldstein and Browning. Carter eventually scored on a Cameron Frost (Washington State) single, and just like that, the Bombers lead was trimmed to 9-8.
 
Battle Creek extended their lead yet again in the bottom of the seventh inning, plating two more runs. Lund and Swain led off with singles, with Lund advancing to third base on Swain’s hit. Lund scored on a passed ball, and Swain crossed the plate on a Bredlau single, to put the Bombers ahead 11-8.
 
The home team tacked on one more in the eighth inning, when Pacheco singled and scored on an error by Mallards left fielder Browning. That put the Bombers ahead 12-8, and Mason Marshall (BYU) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to complete the victory. 
 
Budnick, Simmons, Helsel and Bredlau led the way for the Bombers offense. Each of them had 2 RBIs. Swain, Bredlau, Li, and Pacheco all had multi-hit games. 
 
Manke (1-1) picked up his first win of the season for the Bombers, pitching 3 innings, and allowing four runs on four hits. Kaleb McCurry (Mars Hill University) pitched a scoreless 1 1-3 innings to get the ball to Marshall in the ninth. Victor Gonzalez (East Tennessee State) started the ballgame last night and struck out the side in the first, but he did not come back out to pitch the continuation of the game this afternoon.
 
Madison 5, Battle Creek 3 – Battle Creek had chances to sweep their first series since May 31, but lost game two in extra innings 5-3. 

The Bombers found the scoreboard in the first inning again in game two, taking a 1-0 lead. Li led off the frame with a single back up the box and Lund added a base hit of his own. Swain reached on an error by the shortstop to load the bases. Li came in to score when Gleason grounded into a double play. 

Edgar Sanchez (Prairie View A&M) was dominant through his first three innings, allowing just two hits and inducing an inning-ending double play in the second. But the Mallards struck to tie the score in the fourth. Frost led off the inning with a single and came around to score when Simmons robbed a base hit with a diving effort, but could only throw to first for the out. 

The Bombers broke the tie with a run in the fifth. Hank Truluck (Florida State) reached on an infield single with two out and Li to follow. On a hit-and-run play, Li hit a line shot down the right-field line that landed just foul. But, he answered back with a deep drive to center, scoring Truluck from first on his double. 

The Mallards rallied for two runs to take their first lead of the doubleheader in the top of the sixth. Sanchez allowed two hits, a single by Ramirez and a double by Collin Theroux (San Joaquin Delta CC), but the runs came in on a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk. 

Swain immediately answered in the bottom half by taking the first pitch he saw from Mallards reliever Vince Arobio (Pacific) down the left-field line for a double. After Gleason worked a walk, both runners advanced on a passed ball. The Mallards chose to intentionally walk the pinch hitter Bredlau to load the bases. Swain tied the score at three when he crossed the plate on Steven Wells Jr.’s (Florida State) ground out to second. Madison reloaded the bases with another intentional walk and Arobio worked his way out of the jam with consecutive strikeouts. 

The Mallards threatened in the seventh, loading the bases in the seventh on three Evan Dunn (Pepperdine) walks, but the right-hander escaped the jam by striking out Quintana. 

The Bombers put the walk-off run ninety feet away in the bottom half of the inning as Mike Kaelin (Buffalo) hit Lund and Swain with pitches and Gleason moved Lund over to third on a sacrifice fly. But Kaelin froze Bredlau on a curveball to keep the game going. 

After neutralizing the two seventh-inning threats, the teams took the tie same to extras and Madison used a two-spot in the eighth to push ahead. Butler doubled down the left-field line and scored the go-ahead run when Frost grounded to short. Li ranged way into the hole and Hank Truluck (Florida State) almost turned an unbelievable inning-ending double play, but Frost was safe at first by a step on the play. When Chet Joslyn (Valparaiso) replaced Dunn, he allowed an RBI single to Ramirez and then struck out Theroux to end the inning.

Needing two runs to answer and continue the game, Simmons singled and moved to second when the potential tying run Truluck walked, but Tyler Frohwirth (Minnesota State) completed the save by forcing a lazy fly ball to right. 

Li led the Bombers offense with two hits, a run, and an RBI. Gleason recorded the other RBI without a hit. Truluck, Lund, Swain, and Simmons all chipped in with one hit. 

Sanchez pitched six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, while walking four and striking out four. Dunn took the loss in 1 2-3 innings of two-run ball. 

Ramirez totaled four hits in the ballgame to lead the Madison offense. Kaelin, after escaping the jam in the seventh, earned the win, while Frohwirth notched the save. 

The Bombers have the next three days off for the all-star break. Alex Hermeling (Ohio State) will represent Battle Creek in the Northwoods League All-Star Game on Tuesday. The Bombers will return to action Thursday when they host the division-leading Kenosha Kingfish. Thursday’s 7:05 start is Thirsty Thursday and Summertime St. Patty’s Day.

The Battle Creek Bombers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). For more information, visit www.battlecreekbombers.com.

(Story photo courtesy of Battle Creek Photography and Design – Levi Green)