Published On: June 2nd, 2009

Madison 5 – Rochester 1

A strong pitching performance by left-hander Matt Jansen (Purdue) coupled with a pair of long balls by Joe DePinto (USC) and Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee) propelled the Mallards to a 5-1 victory over Rochester in front of 4,450 fans, their second straight win at the “Duck Pond,” and third overall. Jansen (1-1) went six scoreless innings while scattering six hits and walking only two to pick up his first win of the season. His biggest jam came in the fifth inning when Rochester’s William Arnold (Central Michigan) led off with a well placed bunt single. Two more just like it followed to load the bases with nobody out. Jansen got the next batter to fly out to right and then struck out the next two batters to end the inning unscathed. In taking the loss, Rochester pitcher Zach Robertson (Iowa) struck out 13 Mallards in 5 2/3 innings.

Eau Claire 4 – Thunder Bay 0

The Eau Claire Express received another stellar pitching performance from yet another starting pitcher.  The offense did the rest in a 4-0 victory over the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Louis Head (Texas Tech) made his season debut on the mound and did not disappoint.  Head threw seven shutout innings and struck-out six batters during the night.  Normal closer Devan Kline (Central Michigan) got the night off, but it did not matter as Ian Campbell (Yavapai) nailed down his first save of the season. Nolan Fadness (UW-Oshkosh) scored a run for the Express in the third inning to give them the early lead 1-0.  That lead stood for nearly the rest of the game.  Drew Heithoff (Augustana) scored in the seventh inning and the Express tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth to take home a 4-0 victory.

 Alexandria 1 – Green Bay 0

Three days removed from a brilliant performance by his North Alabama teammate, Mitch Handley duplicated the outing from Chase Porch, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning. And, like Porch, Handley surrendered his only hit with two outs and the bases empty. His gem was broken up in the eighth inning as Sam Munson (Walters State CC) slapped a single up the middle for Green Bay. Handley stuck out six and walked three for Alexandria (5-1). Green Bay (3-3) made no more than four appearances at the plate in an inning and didn’t reach second base throughout the contest. The Bullfrogs’ Joel Hutter (Des Moines Area CC) walked twice in the game, but was caught stealing in the third frame. Matt Alexander (Air Force) scored the only run of the ballgame on Diallo Fon’s (Arizona) double to left-center in the 4th inning. Roberson led Alexandria going 2-for-3 at the plate, while three other Beetles recorded a hit in the game. Aaron Kurcz (Air Force) earned his fourth save of the season in as many tries as he struck out a pair in the ninth inning.

Battle Creek 10 – Waterloo 6

Another late-innings rally fell by the wayside for the Waterloo Bucks Tuesday night. The Battle Creek Bombers (5-1) took a 10-6 win to close out a two-game sweep. The Bombers offense ended with 10 hits and was topped by catcher Phil Berberet (Cypress College) who ended with two hits and three runs scored. Pitching-wise, starter Eddie Sipple (Southern) recorded seven strikeouts en route to the win. Waterloo (1-5) was led by the bat of outfielder Willie Argo (Illinois), who drilled his second home run as part of a two-for-four night at the plate. First baseman Mike Giller (Illinois) was two-for-four as well.

La Crosse 6 – Wisconsin 0

Aaron Gates (Pepperdine) has been a jack-of-all trades so far this early season.  Three days since hitting a walk-off homerun against the defending Northwoods League Champion Thunder Bay Border Cats and one day after going 3-4 to lead the Loggers offensive attack in yesterday’s loss, Gates dominated the Wisconsin Woodchucks Tuesday night, this time on the mound. Getting his first start on the bump this summer, Gates went six strong innings while striking out eight batters and scattering six hits.  He did not allow a run to cross the plate while earning his first victory in the Northwoods League. Gates counterpart, Jonas Dufek was equally impressive striking out ten batters in seven innings of work. The game remained scoreless until the Loggers tagged Dufek for three runs in the top half of the sixth inning.  The Loggers held the lead until adding some needed insurance runs in the top half of the ninth thanks to a key bases loaded single from Austin Knight (Dallas Baptist), who was playing in his second game with the Loggers.

Duluth 3 – St. Cloud 2

The Duluth Huskies pulled out another late one with a 13 inning victory over the St. Cloud River Bats.  The Huskies were led by two great pitching performances. Christopher Jensen (San Diego) went 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits.  He also stuck out 8 batters throughout the night.  Kyle Stewart (Western Carolina) went 6 scoreless innings, giving just 3 hits and sat down 11 batters, earning the win. Huskies hitters only had 4 hits, but the hits came in key situations. Andy Burns (Kentucky) had a big RBI double that scored the Huskies first run of the night.  The winning run came in the bottom of the 13th when Pete Cappetta (Illinois) hit a sac fly to left field driving in Cody Asche (Nebraska).

Mankato 3 – Brainerd 1

The Mankato MoonDogs broke a brief two-game skid on the left arm of Ryan Demmin. The rising senior pitched seven innings, allowing a single unearned run and just two hits en route to a 3-1 MoonDogs victory, Tuesday evening at Stewart C. Mills Field. It looked as if the ‘Dogs were on their way to another tough defeat as Andrew Gudmunsen (North Dakota) knocked in Stephen Wickens (Florida Gulf Coast) for the only Brainerd run of the game in the bottom of the first. That 1-0 lead held up until the top of the seventh when Mankato posted two runs in the top of the seventh inning. The ‘Dogs would then post a single insurance run in the top of the ninth for the final 3-1 margin. Seven different MoonDogs recorded hits, as Kenny Held (Central Arizona) led the way, going 2-3 with a run, boosting his season average to .313. Xorge Carillo (Central Arizona) and Chris Murrill (Nicholls State) each scored a run and Troy Larson (Minnesota) contributed an RBI.

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