Brainerd 1 – Duluth 0

Dennis O’Grady (Duke) threw a complete game one-hitter, struck out nine, and walked only one to lead the Lunkers to a 1-0 victory over the Duluth Huskies at Wade Stadium.
O’Grady’s curveball and fastball were spot-on all night, and the lone hit he allowed came in the second inning. He retired the Huskies in the fifth by striking out all three guys he faced, and in eight of his nine innings pitched, he only faced three Duluth hitters. The lone run of the night for the Lunkers occurred in the eighth. Singles by Michael Kvasnicka (Minnesota) and David Valesente (St. Joseph) started the inning, and Zack Stewart (Ohio Dominican) followed by reaching via a fielder’s choice. Then, Mike Martinez (Florida International) singled to load the bases, and a defensive error by Duluth brought home Stewart. Duluth’s SeanYost (Nebraska) pitched 7 and 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits and an unearned run for the tough luck loss.

Thunder Bay 5 – Alexandria 3

Thunder Bay scored four times in the seventh inning, taking a three run lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they hung on for a 5-3 win in Alexandria on Tuesday night. Three straight one-out walks issued by Mitch Conner (Elon) loaded the bases, and two groundball singles and a bunt, including a Cameron Smith (New Mexico) two-RBI roller through the right side of the infield brought in the four runs. Matt Robertson (Barton CC) picked up the win, going seven innings in the starting effort. Miguel Valcarcel (St. John’s) tossed the ninth, giving up a run but earning his first save of the season. Thunder Bay began the scoring in the fourth inning when Chris Curley (Campbellsville) was hit on the wrist by a Matt Fyffe (E. Kentucky) fastball.  Curley left the game immediately, and pinch runner A.J. Schugel (Central Arizona CC) came around on a Ryan Honeycutt (New Mexico) base hit to left. Alexandria answered in the bottom of the fourth.  Vance Albitz (UC-San Diego) led off with a double to right-center.  He would later score on a Matt Robertson wild pitch. In the sixth, the Beetles took their only lead of the game.  Former Border Cat Mike O’Neill (USC) led off the inning with a single, moved to second on an Albitz bunt, and scored on Matt Alexander’s (Air Force) double to right field. After the Cats scored four times in the seventh, the Beetles waited until the ninth inning to make their comeback. Aaron Kurcz (Air Force), in his final appearance as a Beetle, struck out the side in the ninth inning. In the home half, Trent Edwards made a pinch-hitting return to the lineup and drilled a double to the right-center field gap.  After a Chase Porch RBI single brought him around, the Beetles brought the tying run to the plate.  But KJ Randhawa (Air Force) lined out to the shortstop, and Jayson Langfels (E. Kentucky) struck out to end the game.

Matt Alexander, KJ Randhawa and Aaron Kurcz played in their final game on Tuesday night.  All three from Air Force will return to school as their 20-day contracts have expired.

Battle Creek 6 – Wisconsin 3

Chris Lewis (Western Michigan) hit the first home run at C.O. Brown Stadium this season, and he couldn’t have picked a better time to do it. With two outs in a tied game in the bottom of the ninth, Lewis hit a 3-run walk-off blast over the left-center field fence, lifting the Battle Creek Bombers to a 6-3 win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks. It was a tale of two games tonight. The first 5 innings were dominated by excellent pitching and defense and the final 4 by hitting and scoring opportunities. Bombers starting pitcher Josh McElwee (Newberry) struck out 8 and allowed only 2 earned runs on 4 hits in 7 plus innings. Wisconsin starter Jonas Dufek (Creighton) also had a solid performance, surrendering 2 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Bombers offense began to take control. 3 consecutive hits resulted in the Bombers taking a 3-0 lead, and that lead held until the eighth inning. In the eighth, a leadoff single by Kale Kiser (Nebraska) and 3 errors helped the Woodchucks tie the game at 3-3. The Woodchucks threatened to take the lead in the top half of the ninth, but closer R.J. Hively (Cal State Fullerton) stranded 2 runners in scoring position to end the threat. Greg Fujii (San Jose City College) led off the bottom half of the ninth with a single. After a failed bunt attempt, the Bombers managed to advance Fujii into scoring position. Then Chris Lewis, who had flown out in his previous 4 at bats, hit his second home run of the year to win the game for the Bombers.

Waterloo 6 – Madison 3

La Crosse @ St. Cloud (Ppd.)

The River Bats and La Crosse Loggers will play a double header Wednesday beginning at 6:05pm at Joe Faber Field.

Eau Claire @ Rochester (Ppd.)

The Honkers and Eau Claire Express game tonight will be made up as part of a double-header on July 3rd at Mayo Field. There will be two 7-inning games that day, beginning at 6:05pm.

Green Bay @ Mankato (Ppd.)

The MoonDogs and Green Bay Bullfrogs will be made up tomorrow as part of a doubleheader starting at Noon.