Mankato, Minnesota—The Mankato MoonDogs took on the St. Cloud Rox at Franklin Rogers Park, and were able to come away salvaging a series split that featured two of the top three teams in the North Division by a score of 2-1.
Each team threw out a MSU Maverick pitcher as their respective starters, and the two teammates would duel all night against each other.
Josh Matheson was the MoonDogs starter and he was brilliant, getting the best of his counterpart Aaron Rozek, throwing eight scoreless innings for Mankato striking out six while allowing just five hits.
Rozek was solid himself for the Rox, giving them five innings of work on the bump, surrendering just two runs on five hits while striking out four, but it would just not be enough to defeat the ‘Dogs.
Drew Fearing led off the game for Mankato and drew a walk to start things off, he would later score in the inning to claim the early lead, however, the ‘Dogs were hoping for more that inning as they loaded the bases with no out but were only able to get Fearing in.
Bryce Adams would lead the third off with a double off the wall, the next two up for Mankato, Marcus Pingleton and Gavin Wehby, would each then sacrifice themselves to get Adams in and give the MoonDogs their second run of the game.
Kevin Yarabinec would relieve Matheson in the ninth, and although he could not complete the shutout for the ‘Dogs, he would complete the victory and earn his fourth save of the year.
It was a key victory for the ‘Dogs who were able to climb back within a half game of the division leading Rox with tonight’s victory.
The MoonDogs will travel to Eau Claire tomorrow to take on the Express for two games, before returning to the Frank Saturday to begin a seven-game home stand.
You can follow all the MoonDogs action live on 1230 AM The Fan Mankato, the iHeart app, or online at www.mankatomoondogs.com
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mankatomoondogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year-old summer collegiate 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 150 former 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store.
