Eau Claire 6 – Duluth 4
The Duluth Huskies (7-5) hosted a double header with the Eau Claire Express (9-3) Tuesday. The teams played two seven inning games due to a rain out on Monday night. The first game was won by Eau Claire 6-4. Eau Claire was led by Andrew Leonard who went 2 for 3 on the night. Brooks Pinckard went 2 for 4 and had 1 RBI. The Express had 9 hits in the first game. Eau Claire’s starting pitcher, Louis Head, went 5 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits. Ian Campbell got the win for the Express. The Huskies were led by Pete Cappetta (Illinois) and Nick McCoy (San Diego) who both went 2 for 3. Jared Womack (Oklahoma State) added a double in his first at bat with the team. Sean Yost (Nebraska) went 5 innings giving up 1 earned run on 7 hits.
Duluth 10 – Eau Claire 5
The second game was a better result for the Huskies. Duluth won the game 10-5. Pete Cappetta (Illinois) kept the hot bat alive going 2 for 4 and adding 4 RBIs. Zach Walters (San Diego) and Jared Womack (Oklahoma State) each had 2 RBIs, while Womack added another double. Kendall Wehrle (Arkansas) got the win going 2 and 2/3 inning giving up 1 run on 4 hits. Eau Claire’s bats were kept cold getting only 4 hits in the second game.
Mankato 9 – Thunder Bay 4
It was another night at the Frank, and another victory for the MoonDogs. Danny Miller and Tony Strazzara homered and Kyle Knudson added two hits and two RBI to a 9-4 MoonDogs victory over Thunder Bay Tuesday night at Franklin Rogers Park. The victory gave the MoonDogs (8-4) their second straight series sweep and ran their win streak to four games. After a 1-3 start, the ‘Dogs have been on a tear, winning seven of their last eight contests. The MoonDogs muscled up, belting two home runs on the evening, starting with Strazzara’s (San Diego) in the first inning. Miller (Minnesota State) would later homer in the sixth, icing the victory with a three-run blast, as the squad nearly matched its season total which stood at three coming into Tuesday night.
Brainerd 5 – Alexandria 4
With the bases loaded and one out, Michael Kvasnicka (Minnesota) battled back from an 0-2 count to rip a walk-off single into left field that brought two runs home, and gave the Lunkers the 5-4 win over the Alexandria Beetles at Mills Field. The Lunkers got on the board in the second when a two-out double off the wall by Hunter Nolen (Northern Colorado) set up Shon Roe’s (Loyola Marymount) RBI single. Then in the third, a leadoff single by TJ Berge (Northern Colorado) gave way to an RBI by Mike Martinez (Florida International). The Beetles scored one in the fifth, but the Lunkers plated one more to keep their two-run advantage. Starter Dennis O’Grady worked seven innings, struck out two, only allowed four hits, and gave up just two runs. After he was removed, Alexandria scored one in the eighth and ninth to tie the game at three. In the extra frame, a leadoff walk led to the Beetles plating one to take the lead. However, in the bottom of the tenth, a one-out walk to Justin Gominsky (Minnesota), followed by Zach Stewart (Ohio Dominican) getting hit by a pitch, and Andrew Gudmunson (North Dakota) walking on four consecutive pitches led to Michael Kvasnicka’s heroics.
La Crosse 6 – Rochester 2
Kyle Simon (Arizona) through seven strong innings, and a three-run home run by Cory Burleson (Nebraska) gave the Loggers a four-run cushion in the eighth as La Crosse split the series with a 6-2 win. The Loggers are now 7-5, while the Honkers fall back to .500 at 6-6. Bret Mitchell (last year at Iowa Central CC, transferring at Mankato State next year) got the start for Rochester and La Crosse was able to hit him early. The second batter of the night for the Loggers, Justin Prekajlo (North Florida) crushed a home run over the right field wall to give his team an early 1-0 lead. La Crosse would go on to add additional single runs in the second and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead into the fifth and eventually chase Mitchell, who went just four innings allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. Mitchell took the loss for Rochester to fall to 0-2 while Simon got the win to go to 2-0. No save was recorded in the game. Aaron Jones (Illinois) finished 2-for-5 for Rochester and Rance Roundy (UNLV) and P.J. Sequiera (Oral Roberts) also both finished with two hits for the Honkers. Burleson paced the Loggers’ offense by going 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. Lucas O’Rear (Northern Iowa) made his Honker debut, pitching a perfect ninth inning.
Madison 8 – Battle Creek 0
The Battle Creek Bombers dropped the second game of a two game series against the Madison Mallards on Tuesday night, the final score 8-0. The Mallards’ offense dominated the game, banging out 15 hits and scoring 8 runs. On the defensive end, Mallards’ starting pitcher Matt Jansen (Purdue) threw 7 shutout innings, striking out 4 while holding a potent Bombers’ offense to only 4 hits. Through the first 5 innings 13 Mallards reached base, yet the Bombers held them to only 3 runs. Center fielder Nick Campbell (Bryant) helped keep the game close by gunning down 2 Mallards at home plate. The Mallards broke the game open with a 3-run sixth inning and added 2 more insurance runs in the seventh. Leadoff batter Kurtis Muller (Iowa) was the catalyst of the Mallards’ offense, going 4-5 with a hit-by-pitch and 1 run scored. Every Mallards batter reached base tonight, and tonight’s game marks the 6th time in the past 9 games that the Mallards have scored 7 or more runs. Bombers offensive star Chris Lewis (Western Michigan) continued his hitting streak tonight, going 1-4. Lewis has gotten a hit in every game played this season.
St. Cloud 5 – Waterloo 4
The River Bats (4-8) jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked bat, topping the Waterloo Bucks (2-10) 5-4 in front of 1,794 fans at Joe Faber Field. The Bats snapped a three-game losing streak. Jonathan Roof (Michigan St), Brian Humphries (Pepperdine) and Danny Oh (Cal-Berkeley) each recorded two hits to pace the River Bat’s nine hit attack. Nick Sutherland (Viterbo) earned the win for St. Cloud, allowing just two runs on five hits over six innings of work. The right-hander struck out four and walked three. Connor Lambert (Washington St) worked a perfect ninth and notched his third save and has not given up an earned run in 3.2 innings of work. The Bats struck for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Roof singled,Fanelli was hit by a pitch and Humphries singled before lefty Rick Dodridge (0-2) balked in a run with the bases loaded. Roof finished 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and a run. Waterloo cut away at the lead in the fourth inning with a two-RBI single from Phil Keppler. The Bats answered in the bottom half of the inning, receiving an RBI double from Kurt Schlangen and an RBI base hit from Tony Renda.
