Rochester 4 – Mankato 3

The Rochester Honkers scored all their runs in the first two innings, as that proved to be all they would need. The Honkers thwarted a late-game comeback by the Mankato MoonDogs as the Honkers prevailed 4-3 at Mayo Field Thursday evening. The Honkers jumped out to an early lead on MoonDog starter Matt Swynenberg (Black Hawk College), as they plated three runs in the first and one in the second. For the most part, both teams had trouble getting offense going, as the Honkers were aided by three MoonDog errors and 10 walks. Both teams had just five hits apiece, but Nick Judkins (Iowa Central) was the star of the night, going 3-4 with a home run, double and two runs. The second baseman was the second MoonDog in as many nights to come within a triple of the cycle. Drew Gagnon (Long Beach St.) was lights out through six for the Honkers, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out nine in his debut. Arik Sikula (Marshall) picked up his second save of the season.

Duluth 7 – Wisconsin 5

The Duluth Huskies (5-3) scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and never looked back. Duluth was led by Doug Joyce (Florida Intl) who went 2 for 3 with a double and had 2 RBIs. Three of the Huskies other hitters also had two hits a peace. The Huskies brought the lumber racking up 11 hits all night. Kale Kiser of the Wisconsin Woodchucks (3-5) led the team going 4 for 5 and got 1 RBI. The Woodchucks matched the Huskies also getting 11 hits in 9 innings. The Woodchucks were hurt by 4 errors that cost them 4 unearned runs. The Huskies starting pitcher Jeff Rydman (Campbell) went 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 5 batters. Alex Kent (Central Missouri) got the win for the Huskies and Matt Patterson (Creighton) recorded his 3rd save of the season.

Battle Creek 14 – La Crosse 3

Not much went right for the Loggers in the finale of a two-game set with the Battle Creek Bombers on Thursday night as the visitors earned a split with 14-3 victory in front of 2,426 fans at Copeland Park. Battle Creek scored early and often with three in the first and four more in the second off of Loggers starter Pete Woodworth (Florida Gulf Coast) and didn’t stop there.  The Bombers pounded out 17 hits on the night and had six players with multi-hit nights. Morgan Mickan (Texas) led the Loggers offensively with three hits in his first start of the season and Chris Engell (San Diego) as well as Robert Abel (San Francisco) added a pair of safeties.

Eau Claire 4 – Brainerd 3

The Eau Claire Express faced something they have not faced often this season; a deficit.  That deficit did not even last a whole inning however, and the Express won their seventh game of the season defeating the Brainerd Lunkers 4-3. Chris Odegaard (UM-Mankato) pitched seven innings and struck out four batters while giving up three runs to earn his second win of the season.  Odegaard worked very efficiently and relied on his defense to help him earn the victory.  The defense was solid as they committed no errors on the night. Joe Bonfe (Creighton) continued his dominance at the plate going 2-4 with a run batted in. Bobby Rinard (Yavapai) also had a big night at the plate hitting two doubles and going 2-4.  Dominic Piazza (Yavapai) got out of a slump in a huge way hitting a solo home run in his first at-bat of the game into the fan deck.  Piazza finished the game 2-3.

Green Bay 3 – Thunder Bay 2

It was a dramatic finish in Thunder Bay as Green Bay scored the tying run in the eighth inning and the go-ahead run in the ninth to beat the Border Cats 3-2.  The Cats had the tying run thrown out at home plate in the bottom of the ninth.  With runners on first and second and two out, Thunder Bay attemped a double steal.  Green Bay catcher Daniel Torrente (Missouri State) threw wide of third base in an effort to nail Cats lead runner Cameron Smith (New Mexico).  Smith headed for home, but was thrown out from shallow left field by Bullfrogs shortstop Tony Jandron (St. Nobert) to end the game.  Green Bay took the lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI double by Torrente who went 2-5 with a pair of runs batted in.  Craig Gullickson (Clemson) picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-0.  Reliever Drew Erwin (Nicholls State) took the loss for Thunder Bay, dropping his record to 0-1.

St. Cloud 8 – Alexandria 7

Two late inning runs pushed the River Bats past Alexandria on Thursday night, sweeping the two-game set with an 8-7 win.  Drew Palen earned the win for St. Cloud, pitching 2.2 innings of scoreless, hitless relief.  Kevin Vangheluwe (Michigan)  took the loss after three innings of relief for Austen Siwiec.  Vangheluwe gave up two runs in the seventh, including four hits, two walks and two strikeouts. A six run second inning for Alexandria was led by Mike O’Neill (USC), who launched a 2-1 pitch over the right-field foul pole, a three-run bomb that put the Beetles up 6-1. But it was a short-lived lead. Siwiec (Valparaiso) had troubles all evening long.  St. Cloud immediately answered with two runs in the third inning, and another three runs to tie it in the fourth inning. The Beetles fought back, retaking the lead in the home half of the fourth and the score remained 7-6 Beetles into the seventh inning, when Vangheluwe ran into trouble.  The right-hander was relieved after loading the bases to start the frame. Mitch Conner (Elon) made his first appearance of the season and gave up two runs in the inning, both charged to Vangheluwe.

Madison 11 – Waterloo 4

Hot-hitting continued for the Mallards as they pounded out 12 hits, including two home runs, one of which came off the bat of Harold Riggins (NC State) who finished 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored in an 11-4 win over Waterloo at the “Duck Pond” on Thursday night. A crowd of 4,711 were on hand to see Cody Winiarski (MATC) earn his first win of the year with seven solid innings on the mound en route to Madison’s fifth straight win and second consecutive sweep at home. Matt Morgan (Purdue) and Kevin Cahill (Purdue) closed things out with two innings of hitless relief. Greg Beiker (Ft. Hays St.) hit the other homer for Madison and Adam McClain (Memphis) went 3-for-5, scoring three runs and driving in two.