La Crosse 6, Battle Creek 2 (Game 1 – Suspended on 8/2)
The Bombers and the Loggers had a full day of baseball scheduled Wednesday that started with the completion of the suspended game from Tuesday night. When rain stopped play a day earlier, La Crosse led 2-0 in the top of the 1st inning. They’d add another run in the 1st inning Wednesday and cruise to the 6-2 victory. In his first start for the Loggers, Aaron Conyers (Sacremento City College) went the distance in the 7-inning game for his 6th victory of the season. Conyers went 5-0 as a temporary player for Brainerd Lakes Area in June. Tyler Smith (Oregon State) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Loggers. Trentt Copeland (Evansville) had a pair of hits, including his 5th home run. Jordan Dean (Central Michigan) went 3-for-4 with a double in the loss.
Battle Creek 5, La Crosse 0 (Game 2)
Bryce Redeker (Miami (OH)) went 3-for-3 and Jordan Dean (Central Michigan) hit a two-run double as the Bombers bounced back with a 5-0 victory over La Crosse. Ben Ballantine (Michigan) shut down the Loggers for six innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five. He improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.29.
La Crosse at Battle Creek (Game 3 – Canceled)
The third game of the day between La Crosse and Battle Creek was canceled.
Green Bay 8, Wisconsin 5 (Game 1)
Andy Hunter (Gonzaga) had three hits and four RBIs to propell the Bullfrogs to a game one victory at home Wednesday night. Hunter’s two-run singles in the 3rd and 4th innings accounted for half of Green Bay’s runs. Cory Kyle (Arkansas State) pitched four solid innings of relief to improve to 5-0 on the season. He allowed one run on four hits and striking out five. Austing Coleman (Cal State-San Marcos) and Dimitri De La Fuente (Cal State-Fullerton) each hit a two-run home run in the 4th inning for the Woodchucks in defeat.
Green Bay 1, Wisconsin 0 (Game 2 – 8 innings)
Andy Hunter (Gonzaga) was brilliant again in game two of the doubleheader, but in this case he was the starting pticher for the Bullfrogs. Hunter struck out 11 Woodchucks, only allowing one hit over seven innings but didn’t factor into the decision. Adair Robles (San Diego Christian) was almost as good for Wisconsin. He went six innings allowing just three hits while striking out seven batters. Nick Stein (Coe) won it for Green Bay in the 8th with an RBI single that scored Jonathan Walsh (Texas) who had reached on a pinch-hit double to lead off the inning. The doubleheader sweep puts Green Bay in first place in the South Division.
Thunder Bay 5, Duluth 2
Kevin Taylor (St. Joseph’s) hit a three-run home run in the 6th inning to break a 2-2 tie and lead the Border Cats to a home victory against the Huskies. Taylor went 3-for-4 in the game and drove in four total runs, including a go-ahead single in the 2nd inning. Tyler Bratton (West Alabama) went six innings and allowed two runs to get the win and improve to 4-2. Lee Valencheck (Wright State) tossed three hitless innings in relief to pick up his second save.
Alexandria 5, St. Cloud 0
Casey Shiver (Southern Polytechnic) struck out five and walked one in a complete game, six-hit shut out victory over the St. Cloud River Bats on Wednesday night in Alexandria. Shiver improved to 3-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.88. The victory was the Beetles 4th in a row and league-high 20th of the second half of the season. Chad Bunting (California) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Beetles. Andy Henkemeyer (Minnesota) and Jeremy Banks (Youngstown State) each had two hits in the loss for the River Bats.
Eau Claire 6, Waterloo 2
Brad Goldberg (Ohio State) struck out eight over seven innings and the Express offense scored three runs in the 8th inning to give Eau Claire a 6-2 home victory. Ryan Freitag (Madison College) scored a pair of runs in the win while Lawton Langford (Baylor) drove in two. Cameron Perkins (Purdue) knocked in both runs for the Bucks and is now third in the Northwoods League with 39 RBIs.
Willmar 6, Rochester 2
Eduardo Gonzalez (Alcorn State) and Pat Stover (Santa Clara) each hit their 3rd home run of the season as the Willmar Stingers won at Rochester Wednesday night. Michael Shreves (Montevallo) allowed just an unearned run over five innings of relief while striking out six batters to earn the win and improve to 4-1. Gonzalez drove in three runs and raised his Northwoods League leading batting average to .353. Ryan Hambright (Oregon) went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI in the loss for Rochester.
Mankato 6, Brainerd Lakes Area 3 (11 innings)
Three three-run innings accounted for all of the scoring in Brainerd Wendesday, including a three-run 11th inning by Mankato that gave them the victory 6-3. Mankato also scored three runs in the 8th while Brainerd put three on the board in the 5th inning. Sam Lind (Vanderbilt) went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the Mankato offense. Matt Hillsinger (Radford) drove in all three Lunker runs with a double. Both starting pitchers threw well in the no-decisions. Blake Schwartz (MSU-Mankato) fanned 10 over seven innings for the MoonDogs while allowing three runs. John McLeod (Wake Forest) fired seven shut out innings for the Lunkers while strking out five. The win for Mankato was their 7th in a row.
Madison 2, Wisconsin Rapids 1
Zack Powers (Florida) scored on an error with two outs in the 9th inning to win the game for the Madison Mallards on Wednesday night. Powers and Mike McQuillan (Iowa) both had two hits in the game for Madison. A home run Sam Montgomery (Oregon State) accounted for the Rafters only run in the game. Starting pitchers Brad Douthit (USC) and Rusty Shellhorn (Texas Tech) both pitched well. Douthit allowed just one run and seven hits over seven innings while striking out six for Wisconsin Rapids. Shellhorn fanned seven over six innings while allowing two hit and one run for Madison.
