Green Bay 7 – Rochester 3

The Green Bay Bullfrogs took game two of a series against the Rochester Honkers 7-3 on Thursday night. The majority of the scoring took place in the opening innings of the contest, as each team put three runs on the board in the first three innings.  The Bullfrogs, led by catcher, Chris Schaeffer (NC State), were able to keep the bats going, pulling away from Rochester in the fourth. Green Bay jumped out to a quick lead, scoring Colin Kuhn (Arkansas) in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jacob House (Arkansas).  The Bullfrogs increased their advantage in the top of the second as Schaeffer was plated on a single by Jared Andreoli (Western Kentucky).  However, the Honkers were able to tie it up in the bottom half of the inning.  Rance Roundy (UNLV) and Drew Beurelein hit consecutive doubles to lead off the inning before scoring. The Bullfrogs stayed hot in the third, as Schaeffer drove in house.  Rochester answered again, bringing in PJ Sequira (Oral Roberts) on a single by Tony Thompson (Kansas). A fourth inning rally allowed Green Bay to pull away from Rochester.  Riley Henricks (Portland) singled with one out and advanced to second on an error.  He was moved to third on a single by Paul Hoenecke (UW-Milwaukee).  House walked to load the bases before Matt Argyropoulos (Washington State) singled to score Henricks.  Schaeffer then gave the Bullfrogs some insurance with a two RBI single, giving Green Bay a 6-3 lead. Both teams remained scoreless until the ninth, when the Bullfrogs added another, increasing their lead to four runs. Chuck Lukanen (Northern Illinois) was the winning pitcher for Green Bay.  He allowed seven hits and three runs while striking out six.  Matthew Kimball (Brown) earned the save, pitching all three relief innings for the Bullfrogs.  Kimball struck out three and gave up only three hits.  Jeff Burleson (Oral Roberts) got the loss for the Honkers.  He gave up ten hits and six runs in 3.2 innings of work. Schaeffer and House combined for a large portion of the Bullfrogs success at the plate.  Schaeffer went 3-4 with one run scored and three RBI.  House was 1-2 with two walks, three runs scored, and one RBI.

La Crosse 8 – Wisconsin 3

The La Crosse Loggers were able to complete the two game sweep Thursday night against the visiting Wisconsin Woodchucks in an 8-3 ball game in front of 3,113 fans at Copeland Park, La Crosse started the scoring off in the bottom of the third by taking a 1-0 lead off of a sacrifice fly by catcher Cory Burleson (Nebraska).  Wisconsin was able to strike back quickly though the following inning with a lead off home run by Jeremy Richter (UW-Stevens Point) but this would be as close as the game would come again.  The Loggers cracked the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth when they scored five more runs to take a 6-1 lead.  Robert Abel (San Francisco) led the way for the Loggers in this inning with his two RBI double to left center which scored Tony Mueller and Justin Prekajlo.  Designated hitter Rob Brantly (UC-Riverside) also stayed hot in the fifth adding an RBI on his single to center.  La Crosse was able to add two more runs in the following inning to make sure that Wisconsin would not be able to make a comeback. Robert Abel did his part offensively going a perfect 3-3 on the night with a double and 2 RBI’s and a run scored. Catcher Cory Burleson also did great work at the plate despite going 0-1 as he collected 2 RBI’s on two sacrifice flys.  Greg Holt (UNC) went 1-4 on the night which extends his current hitting streak to a Northwoods League season best 14 games.  Starting pitcher Richie Erath picked up his third win of the season going seven innings giving up four hits while picking up four strikeouts.

St. Cloud 2 – Mankato 1

Jonathan Roof’s (Michigan State) RBI triple in the sixth tied the game at one and the Bats took the lead on a Bryan Haar (San Diego) error moments later, as the Bats (4-2, 17-23) downed the Mankato Moon Dogs (3-3, 26-13) 2-1 in front of 2,036 fans at Joe Faber Field. Zac Richard (Xavier) earned the win for St. Cloud, tossing six innings of one-run, five hits baseball. The right-hander (1-1)struck out three at walked two. The bullpen shined in a winning effort, as three arms combined to shut down the Moon Dogs in the game’s final three innings. Drew Palen (Penn State) tossed a perfect seventh inning, Connor Lambert (Washington State) fanned two in a dominating eighth before Xavier Esquivel converted his third save with a spotless ninth. MoonDog left-hander Ryan Demmin (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) got the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits over seven frames. Roof finished 3-for-4 to pace the Bats six-hit offensive attack.

Eau Claire 2 – Thunder Bay 1

Andy Leonard (Illinois-Chicago) broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the seventh inning as Eau Claire beat Thunder Bay 2-1.  Leonard went 2-4 as the Express won for the first time in the second half. Jon Ringenburg (Baylor) improved to 2-2 allowing just three hits over eight innings, with no walks and three strikeouts. Devan Kline (Central Michigan) struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning pitched a scoreless ninth for his league leading 13th save.  Luis Castillo (Bellevue) made his first start of the season and struck out nine for the Border Cats, but took the loss to fall to 1-2. Castillo went 6.1 innings and gave up six hits and two runs.

Waterloo 14 – Battle Creek 0

The Waterloo Bucks started off tonight’s game with six consecutive hits, and they would keep the offense rolling all night long as they blow-out the Battle Creek Bombers tonight 14-0. The Bucks’ 14 runs surpasses their previous season high (12) set on June 26 versus the La Crosse Loggers, and also marks the most runs allowed by the Bombers’ pitching staff this year. The Bucks set a season high in hits (22) as well. Willie Argo (Illinois) got the offensive display started for the Bucks, leading off the game with a triple to left center. The next five batters would follow his example with five straight singles. The Bucks scored four runs before the first out was even recorded. After pitching Coach John Ryan Steele made a visit to the mound, Joe Wagstaff (Louisburg) would force a shallow fly-out to right and a double play to escape the inning without any further damage. In the second inning the Bucks would add another run on a two-out RBI double by Michael Giller (Illinois), widening the gap to 5-0. The Bucks put the game away in the next inning, scoring four more runs on five hits. The Bucks led the inning off with back-to-back doubles, and followed that up with a single to center. Two outs and an RBI single later, Willie Argo would put an exclamation point on the night, hitting a two-run blast well over the left field fence to make the score 9-0. Argo would finish the night 2-for-5 with a walk, a triple, a home run, three runs scored, and two RBI. The Bucks would bat around in the seventh inning, tacking-on five more runs on six hits. Pinch hitter Josh Lyon (Indiana) led the inning off with a single, and the next three batters followed suit with singles of their own. After a groundout to first, the next three batters reached base safely on two walks and a single. Lyon would then step up to the plate with two outs, hitting his second single of the inning and picking up an RBI. While the Bucks’ offense could do no wrong, the Bombers’ offense could do no right. The Bombers were held to a meager four hits, striking out five times and putting a man in scoring position only twice. Starter Chris Pack (Villanova) went six innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out two. Pack’s effort was enough to earn him his first victory of the season in eight chances.

Alexandria 5 – Brainerd 4

With the tying run at third and the winning run at second base, pinch hitter Trevor Edwards (UNC-Greensboro) drove a base hit into right field, completing the Alexandria comeback over Brainerd.  Drew Smith (Barton CC) blew the save and took the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year. The game began much as it did on Wednesday, with the Lunkers posting an early 3-0 lead.  But, similarly to last night, the Beetles were able to tie the game in the middle innings on a Tyler Mills (Michigan) three-run homerun. Having a tie score to work with, Beetles starter Erik Johnson (Cal-Berkeley) settled into a groove, setting down nine straight before stumbling in the seventh.  Brainerd once again mounted a two-out rally, beginning with a Stephen Wickens (FGCU) walk. Then, after stealing his 17th base of the season, Wickens took third base on a passed ball and scored on a T.J. Berge (Northern Colorado) RBI single. Lunkers starter Brian Garman then finished the seventh inning and worked into the eight, before being relieved by Mike Frongello (Davidson) who mowed through the heart of the Alexandria lineup, leaving the tying run in scoring position. In the ninth, after two solid innings of relief by Chase Porch (North Alabama), the rally began. Sean Olenek (Mercer) wrapped up a 2-4 night at the plate with a leadoff single against close Drew Smith.  The next batter, Nick Brown, hit a double play ball at third baseman David Valesente (St. Joeseph’s), but the roller kicked off his glove and into left field, prolonging the inning. Trevor Edwards then came to the plate, pinch hitting for Marcus Semien (Cal-Berkeley), who had gone 0-2 in the game.  After taking a first pitch that wound up at the backstop, Edwards fell down in the count at a ball and two strikes.  But the next pitch ended up in right field, scoring the tying run.  Rounding third was Nick Brown (Iowa), who scored easily as right fielder Mike Kvasnicka (Minnesota) misplayed the line drive. It’s the second walk off hit for the Beetles this season; oddly enough, both times have been by pinch hitters and in both instances, the Beetles were wearing their throwback uniforms. The win also pushes the Beetles to a mark of 24-16, eight games over .500 for the first time this year.  The loss drops the Lunkers to 18-21 as they enter a season-high six game homestand tomorrow.

Madison 3 – Duluth 1

Exceptional starting pitching and timely hitting were the story again tonight as the Mallards leave Duluth with a 3-1 victory over the Huskies and a one-game lead in the South Division heading into this weekend’s games at the “Duck Pond.” Madison pitcher Derek Self (Louisville, pictured below) was in command throughout the night in only allowing one unearned run in eight innings of work. He (2-1) scattered five hits and lowered his ERA to 3.22 on the year. Newcomer Brandon Johnson (Western Carolina) then entered the game after Denny Clement (Texas A&M) was forced to leave the game with an undisclosed injury after allowing a leadoff single to Todd Baumgartner (Arkansas St.). Johnson did the job in getting the final three outs to record his first save of the season. Duluth starter Drew Smyly (Arkansas) picked up his first loss of the year (0-1) after allowing 2 runs (zero earned) on 3 hits over 6 innings. The Mallards struck in the first inning when leadoff man Kurtis Muller (Iowa) struckout but advanced to first base on an error by catcher Nick McCoy (San Diego). After a John Hicks (Virginia) putout, Muller advanced to second on a sacrifice fly by Mark Ginther (Oklahoma State). First baseman Harold Riggins (NC State) then hit a ball to the shortstop that resulted in an error, and 1-0 lead for Madison. Duluth would tie the game in the bottom of the second inning on a two-out single by Zac Elgie (Kansas) to score Andy Burns (Kentucky) who doubled earlier. In the fourth inning, Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana) was hit by a pitch with one out to begin another scoring threat. Troy Channing (St. Mary’s) then strolled to the plate and hit a ground ball to the third baseman that resulted in an overthrow at second base in trying for the force-out. The ball rolled into right field and into the glove of Nick Rickles who proceeded to throw the ball to home plate as Sabourin bluffed around third base, and Channing was able to sneak to second base. Up came Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) who stroked an RBI single to score Sabourin and extend the team’s lead to 2-0. The Mallards would tack on an insurance run in the eighth when Sabourin led off the frame with a single and was pinch-ran for by Chris Barker (MATC). The decision paid off as Barker was able to scoot to second base on a passed ball and later moved to third when Esch recorded another hit. With runners on the corners, Jimmy Parque (St. John’s) entered the game for Trent Soares (Fresno State) and came up huge, in hitting a sacrifice fly to center field to score Barker and give the Mallards a much-needed run to make the score 3-1.