By: Dylan Lee – Public Relations
Madison, WI – August 1, 2014. The Madison Mallards (14-16, 32-31) look to bounce back tonight against the Kenosha Kingfish (20-9, 36-25) after falling in game one of their two game home series by a score of 4-3 last night.
The Mallards are 8.5 games back of the first place Lakeshore Chinooks in the South Division second half standings, and overall they are five games back of the second place Kingfish.
For the Mallards to make the playoffs, they must win the second half or finish second in the overall standings as long as Lakeshore holds their second half lead.
On the mound for the Mallards tonight is right handed hurler Sterling Sharp, a 6’4”, 175-pound freshman out of Eastern Michigan. Sharp holds a 4.69 ERA with 36 punchouts in 46 innings of work, and in his last start he went five innings against the Green Bay Bullfrogs, allowing six runs on six hits while striking out four in a 6-4 defeat.
He is slated to face Kingfish righty Rex Morrow, a 5’8”, 180-pound sophomore out of Madison College. The Burlington, Wisconsin native is 2-0 on the year with a 3.09 ERA. His last start, he tossed 6.1 innings, giving up one run on eight hits in a 4-2 win over the Kalamazoo Growlers.
Last night, Mallards first baseman Pete Alonso (Florida) hit a two run home run in the fifth inning to put the Mallards up 3-2, but it wasn’t enough to lift the club over the Kingfish at the “Duck Pond.”
The Kingfish scored two runs in the second, but the Mallards responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning after catcher Drew Carlile (Bradley) doubled to score left fielder Logan Regnier (Central Michigan).
Alonso put the Mallards up in the fifth inning with a 404-foot two run shot, but the Kingfish answered with two runs in the top of the sixth on first baseman Alex Dunlap’s (Stanford) two run jack to make it 4-3.
Kingfish closer Coley Thompkins (Campbell) shut down the Mallards in the final two innings, allowing two hits while walking one to get the save.
Mallards reliever Ben Neumann (Northern Illinois) earned the loss, giving up two hits and one run in 2.1 innings of work.
The Mallards go on the road tomorrow to play the La Crosse Loggers at 6:05 pm. They play two at Copeland Park before returning to the “Duck Pond” on Monday to face the Alexandria Blue Anchors at 7:05 pm.
Monday will feature a Charter Communications Trading Card Giveaway as well as a Curdfest Preview. Taste the best curds in Wisconsin as a preview to the real Curdfest on August 24th!
Mallards single game tickets are on-sale now. To purchase tickets, log on to MallardsBaseball.com, call 608-246-4277, or stop by the Mallards ticket office.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit MallardsBaseball.com.
