Alexandria 3 – Rochester 1

Another solid pitching performance, combined with just enough offensive support equals another Beetles win, their sixth straight.  Erik Johnson (Cal-Berkeley) picked up the win, going seven strong innings in the outing.  Drew Gagnon (Long Beach State) took the loss, giving up all three runs on seven hits.  Matt Miller (Michigan) worked the ninth for his second save in as many nights. Scoring started in the second on a bloop single by Harry Austin (Elon). With two out and two in scoring position, Austin delivered a pop-up single into shallow right-field, plating two runs. Meanwhile, Johnson was cruising. At one point, Johnson went through 22 batters without allowing a hit. In the fifth, Alexandria added one more run on a Tim Roberson (FGCU) double. Johnson gave up one unearned run in the seventh when Brendan Alvey (Navarro JC) dropped a fly ball in deep right field.  Rochester committed three errors in the game, but cut down two Beetles at the plate, keeping the game close. Miller came on in the ninth and, after a two-out single and walk, got the game ending groundout. The win is the sixth straight for the Beetles, tying a franchise record.  The win also pushes the Beetles into a tie for second place with Rochester, although the Honkers remain percentage points ahead of the Beetles.

Green Bay 4 – Brainerd 1

Joel Delorit and the Green Bay bullpen allowed just two hits on the night to shutdown the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers in a 4-1 victory at Jones Sign Field at Joannes Stadium. The Brainerd Lakes Area (13-13) only run of the night, credited to Joel Delorit (UW-Stevens Point), was on a Green Bay (12-14) fielding error in the opening frame. From then on, Delorit went to work striking out five in six innings on the mound, as the only two base runners he allowed reached on free passes. After Delorit was removed, it didn’t get any easier for Lunkers as they managed three base runners, while striking out four times in the final three innings. The Bullfrogs tallied four runs in the fifth inning on four singles, a double, and an error for the win. On the night six Green Bay sluggers picked up a hit, while Nick O’Shea (Minnesota) led the way with two singles and a pair of RBI. Delorit earned his third victory of the season to place himself in a tie for second in the Northwoods League in wins. Dixon Anderson (California) was credited with his seventh save of the season. Zach Varce pitched an inning of relief and struck out two to push his league leading strike out total to 51. The Lunkers tagged the scoreboard in the opening frame with a Mike Kvasnicka (Minnesota) RBI single scoring Justin Gominsky (Minnesota), who reached on a fielding error. Riley Henricks (Portland) smoked his first pitch for a double to left-center field to lead off the fifth frame. After a sacrifice bunt, both Joel Hutter (Des Moines Area CC) and Sam VandenHeuvel (Rhode Island) slapped singles to center field, while Henricks scored. Green Bay finished the inning scoring a run on a Lunker fielding error and two runs on O’Shea’s line drive infield single. Brainerd Lakes Area’s Zach Kenyon (Iowa) took the loss after giving up four runs – one earned – in six innings as he fanned nine Bullfrog batters.

St. Cloud 4 – Thunder Bay 3

The St. Cloud River Bats (11-16) overcame a 3-0 second inning deficit to squash the Thunder Bay Border Cats (5-22) 4-3 in front of 1,691 fans at Joe Faber Field. Logan Birr (St. Cloud State) earned in his first win, tossing 6.2 innings of three-run, six-hit baseball. The right-hander (1-1) struck out five and walked just one. Xavier Esquivel (Loyola Marymount) entered in the ninth and notched his first save, striking out two, including the final batter, with the tying run at second base. Curtis Wagoner (Santa Clara) singled in a run, as did Aaron Munoz (Gateway C.C) as part of a three-run, five hit second inning. The Bats answered back in the bottom half of the inning on Danny Oh (Cal-Berkeley) fielder’s choice that brought in Blake Cover (Nebraska-Kearney) from third. Jonathan Roof (Michigan State) tied the game in the third inning with a two-RBI double. Adam Weisenburger (Miami of Ohio) gave the Bats the 4-3 lead in the fourth with an RBI double over the head of left fielder Garrett Houts (USC). Randy Mower (1-3) got the loss tossing seven innings of four-run, six-hit baseball. Connor Lambert (Washington State) pitched an inning and a half of scoreless relief.

Mankato 6 – Duluth 1

The Mankato MoonDogs got back on track after having their five-game win streak snapped Wednesday, as four players recorded two hits to lead the Dogs past Duluth 6-1 Thursday evening at Wade Stadium. KC Serna (Oregon) led the way with two RBI and two hits, while Jimmy Patterson (Central Arizona) dropped a two-run bomb in the ninth inning to lead the MoonDog attack. The MoonDogs (18-8) jumped ahead of the Huskies (11-15) in the third from the bat of Serna. With Brenden Webb (Palomar) on second and A.J. Pettersen (Minnesota) on first, Serna doubled with two outs, scoring both for a 2-0 MoonDog lead. Xorge Carillo (Central Arizona) put the Dogs up 3-0 the next inning with a clutch two-out single. Down 1-2 in the count, Carillo punched a single through the Duluth infield, scoring Tony Strazzara (San Diego) for his sixth RBI of the season. The runs kept coming with another tally in the fifth. With one out Serna singled to short, but Zach Walters (San Diego) threw the ball away, allowing Serna to move to third. Danny Miller (Minnesota State) brought in Serna on the very next pitch, singling to make it 4-0 MoonDogs. After a Duluth run in the fifth Patterson provided a little more cushion for Mankato in the ninth. With two outs, Miller singled and Patterson followed with a two-run homer to provide the final 6-1 margin for the MoonDogs. James Wise (Washington State) picked up the win for Mankato, hurling five innings, striking out two and allowing just three hits to move to 2-0. Alex Burgos (Manatee CC), Josh Castanza (Minnesota State) and John Brebbia (Elon) combined to shut the Huskies out over the last four innings, giving up five hits. Kyle Stewart (Western Carolina) took the loss for the Huskies, falling to 1-3 on the season. Miller, Webb and Ryan Durant (Iowa) were the other MoonDogs with two hits on the evening.

Waterloo 9 – La Crosse 6

The Waterloo Bucks fought back against an early 6-1 deficit to come back and beat the La Crosse Loggers 9-6. La Crosse got out to a comfortable 6-1 lead through five innings but a sixth inning which was filled with walks and base hits helped the Bucks cut the lead to one. La Crosse walked in three of the four runs and the fourth was produced on and RBI fielder’s choice by Zach McCool (Iowa).  Waterloo would eventually take the lead in the eighth inning by scoring three runs all coming with two outs in the inning. Willie Argo (Illinois) and Michael Giller (Illinois) each had RBI singles in the eighth to help secure the comeback for the Bucks. Giller led the way for Waterloo going 3-4 with 2 RBI’s and a run scored.  Willie Argo also had three hits and an RBI to lead the Bucks to their eighth win of the year and putting a damper on the Logger’s chances of winning the south division for the first half of the season.

Eau Claire 7 – Madison 4 (Completion of Suspended Game From 6/21)

Game one started in the second inning as they resumed a suspended game from Sunday night.  The Express held a 1-0 lead going into the game, but gave that up early on.  The Mallards scored three runs in the second and one in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Louis Head (Texas Tech) began the game on the mound but was not the official starter. Tyler Bremer (UC Davis) is the official starter and went one-plus inning. But it was Head who was the story of game one. After he surrendered the four runs in the first two innings, he did not give up a run the rest of the game.  In fact, he only gave up one hit after those two innings. He finished the game with eight innings pitched, three earned runs and seven strikeouts. Things were not looking good for the Express until Brooks Pinckard (Baylor) took things into his own hands.  Pinckard came to the plate in the fourth inning with the bases loaded and one out.  He took a 1-0 pitch and hit it onto the football field in left-center to give the Express the lead 5-4 on the grand slam. The Express scored two more runs in the fifth and that was more than enough for Head. The win brought the Express to 17-5 on the year and dropped Madison to 16-10. 

Eau Claire 3 –Madison 1

Rudy Jaramillo (New Mexico), who has established himself as the team’s ace, started on the mound in game two. It was not Jaramillo’s best game of the season, but still he pitched out of just about every jam he was in. The Express got Jaramillo some run support right away in the first inning.  Pinckard struck out swinging, but reached on a dropped third strike when the catcher made an errant throw.  With two outs and Pinckard on third, Robbie Knight (Creighton) drove him in with an RBI single. Madison got their only run off of Jaramillo in the third inning. But the Express answered right back in the bottom half. Knight reached first on an error by the shortstop and that is when Andrew Leonard (UIC) hit a double to the right field corner. Knight scored all the way from first base and the Express grabbed the lead right back. In a shortened seven-inning game because of the doubleheader, the Express added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.  Knight led the inning off with a single and took second on a throwing error by the pitcher when he tried to pick Knight off of first base. Leonard sacrificed Knight to third base and Knight scored on an error by the second baseman on a Lucas Herbst (Santa Clara) grounder. Usually closer Devan Kline (Central Michigan) is not seen until the ninth inning, but in a shortened game, the seventh belonged to him. Kline was once again lights out and notched his eleventh save in as many chances. Jaramillo went six innings to earn the victory and only allowed one earned run. He gave up three hits and struck out four batters. The victory was Jaramillo’s third of the season and he remains undefeated on the year. He induced several double plays on the night and used them to get out of trouble when he needed it the most. The ironic part of the game is that Madison starter Matt Morgan (Purdue) went 6.2 innings and did not allow an earned run but took the loss on the night. Morgan was hurt by five Mallard errors that inevitably cost him a victory in a good pitching performance. 

Battle Creek 5 – Wisconsin 1

The Battle Creek Bombers (17-9) used timely hitting and a complete game gem from Dan Holcomb as they defeated the Wisconsin Woodchucks (9-18) by a final score of 5-1 Thursday night at Athletic Park. Battle Creek started the scoring early as Chris Bangi drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an RBI single by Parker Berberet. The Bombers struck again in the second, as Jimmy Tanner ripped a leadoff double to right field and was knocked in on a double by Joe Van Meter. Holcomb continued to cruise for the Bombers, retiring nine straight batters at one point. Battle Creek added some insurance in the seventh, as they scored a pair of runs on a couple of hits and an error. In the eighth, the Bombers tallied another run on Berberet’s third single of the game. Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee) hit a solo home run to break up the shutout in the ninth, but it would not be enough as Holcomb struck out Casey Rihn (South Carolina) for the final out. Terrance Jackson (Oklahoma City) took the loss for the Woodchucks after he allowed three runs on five hits while striking out six in 6.1 innings of work. Jeremy Brewer (Central Arkansas) finished up in relief, allowing two runs in the final 2.2 innings. Holcomb went the distance for the Bombers, allowing just one run and six hits while striking out five and walking just one. Long was the ‘Chucks top performer offensively, finishing the day 2-for-4 and with a home run as the Woodchucks were unable to string anything together offensively. Berberbet led the way Bombers, finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Greg Fujii chipped in a couple of hits and scored a run in the victory.