Published On: July 26th, 2009

Wisconsin 3 – Green Bay 2

It was a pitchers duel on the mound through five innings of play, before Wisconsin scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to claim a 3-2 victory and a series split with Green Bay on Sunday afternoon at Athletic Park. Bryce Shafter (Valparaiso) and Dixon Anderson (California) went pitch-for-pitch over the opening five innings, as neither hurler wanted to surrender. Anderson gave up the first tally of the contest in the sixth, but his offense couldn’t provide enough punch to counter the Woodchuck bats. Paul Hoenecke (UW-Milwaukee) was a one-man show for Green Bay as he was the only batter to record multiple hits, three, in the contest. The Bullfrogs eight hits and one RBI wouldn’t be enough, as they have fallen to 5-13 on the season in games decided by one run. Hoenecke went 3-for-4 as the designated hitter and recorded Green Bay’s only RBI. Chad Wright (Kentucky) smacked a trio of hits, while Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee) recorded a pair of base knocks for the Woodchucks. Jeremy Richter (UW-Stevens Point) stole the game’s only base. Woodchuck starter, Shafer, earned a no decision after tossing 7.2 innings on the bump. He struck out eight, scattered eight hits, and allowed two runs. Anthony Drobnick (Washington State) earned his third win, in relief, after throwing 1.1 innings and striking out one. Green Bay starter, Anderson, went seven innings on the mound and was given a no decision. He scattered seven hits, walked two, and struck out a season-high nine batters. Steve Crnkovich (Tennessee) took the loss for the Bullfrogs in 0.2 innings. He scattered three hits and gave up a pair of earned runs. Wisconsin hit the scoreboard first during the bottom of the sixth frame. Richter reached on a wild pitch after a strikeout, the third on the inning by Anderson. Troy Frazier (Cumberland) stroked a RBI single to give the Woodchucks a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t until the eighth frame before the Bullfrogs scored and eventually they took the lead, 2-1. Aaron Conway (Missouri State) reached on a single and scored from first on a Riley Henricks (Portland) single and a fielding error. Hoenecke followed by producing a RBI single to score Henricks. The Woodchucks answered back in their half the frame with two runs to reclaim the lead for good, 3-2. Brett Krill (UCLA) laced a RBI single to left-center field to tie the game at two apiece. Two batters later, Long scored Krill for the game winner on a single to right field.

Rochester 4 – St. Cloud 2

John Tommasini (Oregon State) was inserted in to the top of the order tonight, and he led the way for the Honkers a 3-for-3 day and two runs scored as Rochester defeated St. Cloud 4-2. Bret Mitchell (Minnesota State Mankato) earned the win with a strong seven inning performance, and P.J. Sequeira (Oral Roberts) also contributed two hits and a run. Rochester is now 15-6, and a league-best 34-19 overall, while St. Cloud fell to 12-7. The Honkers struck first, getting a run in the first inning off of St. Cloud starter Kurtis Frymier (Michigan State). Tommasini and Sequeira started the game off with back-to-back singles, and Rance Roundy (UNLV) drove in the first run with a double right after to score Tommasini and give Rochester a 1-0 lead. Frymier would recover, though, and shut down the Honkers before the early rally could go further. But, with the top of the order leading things off again, Rochester would push across two more runs in the third. Tommasini and Sequeira led off with consecutive singles again, and Tommasini moved to third on a Roundy fly out. Two batters later Aaron Dunsmore (Dayton) drove in both Tommasini and Sequeira with a two-run single to put the Honkers on top 3-0. That was all the offense the Honkers would need, but St. Cloud made it a close game again just a moment later. In the bottom of the third inning Mitchell hit a batter and allowed a single while also getting a fly out and a strikeout to put runners on first and second with two outs. He threw a wild pitch with Tony Renda (California) at the plate moving both runners up. Renda singled in a run, and an error allowed him to take second and the second run to score to make the score 3-2. Only the first run was earned, and Mitchell shook off the inning and sailed through the rest of his outing, allowing just the two runs and seven total hits in seven strong innings. Jay Johnson (Prairie Baseball Academy) pitched a shutout eighth and Rochester added another run on a sacrifice fly by Sequeira in the ninth inning to move ahead 4-2, but the extra run wasn’t needed. Northwoods League save leader Arik Sikula (Marshall) came on for the bottom of the ninth to earn his 16th save. He couldn’t do with a little help, though, as Tommasini made an excellent diving stop to earn the final out with the tying run on base. The win went to Mitchell, taking him to 1-2 on the year, while the loss fell to Frymier to make his record 4-3. Tommasini and Sequeira fueled the offense, but Roundy and Dunsmore added RBI as well. Jonathan Roof (Michigan State) had three hits for the River Bats.

Thunder Bay 4 – Duluth 2

The Duluth Huskies (7-14) lost to the Thunder Bay Border Cats (10-10) on Sunday by a score of 4-2.  Thunder Bay’s starting pitcher Tyler Powell (Belmont Abbey) threw 7 strong innings allowing 2 runs (1ER) on 7 hits.  The Border Cat hitters were led by Curtis Wagner (Santa Clara) who went 3 for 4. Duluth’s starting pitcher Tyler Clark (Missouri) threw 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits.  He got himself into trouble by allowing leadoff batters to reach base.  Chris Jensen (San Diego) threw 4 good innings allowing 0 run on 2 hits.  Pete Cappetta (Illinois) and Andy Burns (Kentucky) both went 2 for 4 on the night leading the Huskies.  The Huskies take on Rochester tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Wade Stadium.

Alexandria 7 – La Crosse 3

Mitch Handley (North Alabama) turned in another gem and Jayson Langfels (E. Kentucky) added three RBI as the Beetles completed the sweep of the Loggers, winning 7-3 on Sunday afternoon.  Madison Boer (Oregon) took the loss, giving up five earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work. Alexandria struck first in the opening frame, supplying Handley some rare run support.  Langfels drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle, and Alexandria took a 2-0 lead. But, La Crosse had an answer in the second, getting a pair of soft singles and a bloop base-hit into right field to tie the game at two.  Handley was able to work out of the jam, striking out two in the inning. Handley would then strike out the side in the third, and his offense responded with another pair of runs against Boer. With the lead at 4-2, Handley took over.  At one point, Handley set down twelve in a row.  The All-Star right-hander finished eight innings of work with seven strikeouts and only one walk. Mike O’Neill (USC) added in his fifth homerun in the eighth, a lead-off solo blast over the center field wall. With the Beetles leading comfortably 7-2, the Loggers mounted one last threat against reliever Tyler McKendree (Flagler).  Boomer Collins (Nebraska) and Aaron Gates (Pepperdine) led off with back-to-back singles.  But, pinch-hitter Brandon Meridith (San Diego St.) rolled into a double play, taking the air out of the comeback sails. With a lone runner at third base and two out, McKendree walked the next two batters to load the bases.  Then Tony Mueller (Winona St.) blooped a base hit into left, making it a 7-3 ballgame. Representing the tying run, Austin Knight (Dallas Baptist) grounded out to second base, ending the game. The win is the thrid straight for Alexandria; the loss is the third straight for La Crosse, their first three-game losing streak of the year.

Madison 9 – Waterloo 7

A Mallards 9-7 shootout victory over the Waterloo Bucks coupled with a La Crosse Loggers loss on Sunday, now has the Madison franchise in first place by one-and-a-half games as the team ventures east to take on the playoff-hopeful Battle Creek Bombers on Monday. The Mallards now lead the before-mentioned Loggers (11-9) by 1.5 games, the Bucks (10-10) by 2.5 games, and the Bombers (10-11) by 3 games. Madison (12-7) began the high scoring affair in the first inning when Kurtis Muller (Iowa) led off the game with a single and right fielder Jimmy Parque (St. John’s) followed with an RBI triple, the team’s second three-bagger in as many games, to score Muller and give the team a 1-0 lead. However, the Bucks answered back in the bottom half on an RBI groundout by Willie Argo (Illinois) to score Tyler Robbins (Des Moines Area CC) who led off the game with a single. The next batter, first baseman Frazier Hall (Southern), then singled in Phil Keppler (Iowa) from third base who had walked and advanced on a pair of groundouts. The Bucks 2-1 lead wouldn’t last long. Madison would add two more in the top half of the second inning when Troy Channing (St. Mary’s) led off the frame with a walk and shortstop Brashad Johnson (Des Moines Area CC) followed with a double to runners on second and third. Channing then was able to score on a Tyson Blaser (Iowa) RBI groundout, 4-to-3 for those scoring at home, to tie the game at two. Muller then followed suit with another 4-to-3 putout that allowed Johnson to score and give the Mallards the lead once again. Waterloo struck back with a vengeance in the fourth inning to retake the lead by scoring four runs on four hits. Tyler Robbins hit a big two-run double to score Josh Lyon and Christian Griffiths. Nemesis Keppler then singled in Robbins to make the score 5-3. Keppler would later score in a wild pitch by Mallards starter JR Graham (Santa Clara) to extend Waterloo’s lead to 6-3. The Mallards played with more urgency tonight, and that was evident in the top of the fifth inning when the team posted a four-spot on the scoreboard of its own to send the playoff-hopeful Bucks a message that a shootout was in store. Bucks starting pitcher Rick Dodridge fell into a jam by walking leadoff man Blaser and plunking the next two hitters in Muller and Parque to load the bases. He would bear down however, and strike out first baseman Harold Riggins (NC State) before leaving the game. Reliever Lenny Linsky (Hawaii) then entered the game and was greeted rather rudely when designated hitter Joe Patterson (Texas A&M) stroked a two-RBI double to left field to score Blaser and Chris Barker (MATC), who was pinch running for Muller. Parque then touched home on an RBI groundout by Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana) to tie the game at six a-piece. The Mallards re-took the lead when third baseman Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) clutched-up and drove in Patterson on an RBI single. The back-and-forth scoring affair was again locked up in the bottom half of the fifth, this time at seven’s, when Waterloo’s Josh Lyon (Indiana) singled to score Troy White (Northern Illinois). Not so fast said the Mallards offense on this night. After a one-out single by Blaser, Barker then drove in the current-Hawkeye on an RBI double to left field to regain the lead. Then two batters later, John Hicks (Virginia) added to the assault by hitting a single to score Barker and give the Mallards a 9-7 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. From there, Madison’s bullpen became the story of the game in shutting down the Bucks’ offense and only allowing one hit through the game’s last four innings. Right-hander Patrick Lala (Kirkwood) made his Mallards debut, and in grand fashion, by throwing three scoreless innings while striking out three batters. Fill-in closer Dan Burawa (St. John’s) then slammed the door in the ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season. Brad Allen (Elgin CC) picked up his second (2-3) win of the season after allowing one run in the fifth inning. Linsky (0-5) was saddled for the loss after allowing two runs in his 1.2 innings of work.

Mankato 6 – Brainerd 1

The Mankato MoonDogs took advantage of eight walks and three errors by the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers, and Jake Petricka threw eight strong innings to give the Dogs a 6-1 win at Stewart C. Mills Field. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the MoonDogs (33-21, 10-11), their longest of the season. Petricka (2-2) had his best outing of the year, allowing just five hits and one earned run in eight innings of work. He threw just 83 pitches and struck out two on the afternoon. After a Stephen Wickens (Florida Gulf Coast) tripled in the only Lunker run in the third, the MoonDogs posted a three-run third for all the runs they would need. Ryan Durant (Iowa) doubled in Brenden Webb (Palomar) after he walked to start the frame, and two batters later Xorge Carillo (Arizona State) tripled to bring in Durant. KC Serna (Oregon) would bring in Carillo with a sac fly to center for the 3-1 lead. Bryan Haar (San Diego) came around on a passed ball in the fifth before the Dogs would put up two more in the sixth. With the bases loaded and two down, Cody Fick (Evansville) ripped a ball to first that Derek Geisinger (Cal St. Bakersfield) booted, allowing two runs to come around, sealing the 6-1 win. Mike Gedman (UMASS) suffered the loss for the Lunkers (26-27, 10-10) lasting four-plus innings, and allowing four earned runs. The MoonDogs managed just four hits, getting outhit 7-4, as they were led by Carillo who posted two on the day. Jimmy Patterson (Arizona State) and Webb both had three walks apiece to pace the Dogs.

Battle Creek 4 – Eau Claire 1

It took them eight tries, but the Battle Creek Bombers finally defeated the Eau Claire Express on Sunday afternoon, the final score 4-1. The Bombers jumped ahead early and never looked back. With the bases loaded in the second, Alan Denman (USC-Sumter) blasted a bases-clearing double to left-center field, giving the Bombers a 4-0 lead. A great pitching performance by Joe Wagstaff (Louisburg College) allowed the Bombers to hold on to that lead. Wagstaff allowed only one run in seven innings, scattering seven hits and striking out five. The game’s first run came in the bottom of the first, as two walks and a single by catcher Jimmy Tanner (USC-Upstate) gave the Bombers a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Alan Denman would then drive a 2-0 pitch to left-center for a bases-clearing double. It was Denman’s only hit of the night, but it was all the offense the Bombers would need. In the third inning, the Express brought in relief pitcher Ryan Kiel (Marshall), who would shut down the Bombers’ offense. Kiel pitched the rest of the game, holding the Bombers scoreless in six innings of one-hit baseball. But the Bombers’ four runs would suffice on Sunday, as the Express were only able to score one run. That run came in the fourth inning, as back-to-back-to-back singles loaded the bases with nobody out. After Wagstaff struck-out the clean-up hitter, Andrew Leonard (UIC) would pick up an RBI with a fielder’s choice. Wagstaff fanned the next batter to exit the inning with minimal damage. The Express also threatened in the fifth inning, as two-singles put men on the corners with two-outs. However, Wagstaff forced the next batter to ground out to second, side-stepping the threat. Relievers James Wernke (Santa Ana) and RJ Hively (Cal State Fullerton) pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, with Hively striking out the final batter of the game to pick up his 11th save of the year.

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