La Crosse 4 – Mankato 3
On Sunday night in Copeland Park the La Crosse Loggers earned their second trip to the playoffs in franchise history. La Crosse took care of business against the visiting Mankato Moondogs winning the game 4-3, as Madison lost in a must situation just minutes before the completion of the game in La Crosse. The Loggers took a 2-0 lead in the third inning as Chris Engell (San Diego) picked up right where he left off the night before hitting another home run, this one being a two run shot to get the early lead. Mankato would answer back quickly though as they picked up two RBI singles by Taylor Black (Kentucky) and Nick Judkins (Iowa Central CC) respectively. The game would not remain tied long though as Nick Baligod (Oral Roberts) hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to re-capture the one run lead. KC Serna (Oregon) of the Moondogs would eventually tie things back up in the top of the seventh when he hit an RBI single scoring Nick Judkins. With the run Mankato looked as if they were ready to play spoiler to the Logger season but in the next half of the inning the eventual winning run would be scored. Justin Preckajlo (North Florida) picked up an RBI double off of Mankato reliever Chris Garrison (Oregon) to seal the game for La Crosse and ensure the south division second half championship in the process. Loggers second baseman Chris Engell came up clutch for the second straight night for La Crosse going 3-4 with a home run and two RBI’s on the night. Loggers lead-off batter Austin Knight (Texas) also had a nice night at the plate going 1-2 while drawing two walks. Starting pitcher Steven Gruver (Tennessee) picked up his seventh win of the season pitching seven innings allowing three runs on nine hits. With the win, Gruver becomes the first pitcher in Logger history to record seven wins in a single season. Craig Crumbly (Florida Gulf Coast) got some redemption after the previous nights performance pitching the final two thirds of the ninth inning allowing one hit in the process of picking up his eleventh save of the season.
Green Bay 5 – Madison 0
Dixon Anderson tossed a complete game shutout and the Green Bay offense capitalized on several Madison miscues in a 5-0 win on Sunday afternoon inside Warner Park. Anderson (California) was in absolute control as he threw a variety of fastballs, changeups, and off speed pitches to earn second straight win as a starter and third consecutive on the hill. In just his fifth start on the hill, Madison (18-14, 37-29) was unable to figure him out as he recorded seven 1-2-3 innings. Anderson struck the mid-90s on the radar gun near the end of the contest as he fanned seven batters, walked one, and scattered five hits. Green Bay (16-17, 30-36) also earned its fifth shutout win of the season. Madison needed South Division leading La Crosse to fall to Mankato on Sunday night for any hopes alive for a playoff spot. Unfortunately for the Mallards, the Loggers defeated the Moon Dogs, 4-3, crushing their hopes. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bullfrogs took advantage of four Mallard errors and scored twice on a throwing error in the second frame to push its lead out to three at the time. Aaron Conway (Missouri State) and Riley Henricks (Portland) led the Green Bay offense with two hits apiece, while seven of the nine batters tallied a hit. Jared Andreoli (Western Kentucky) led the way on the base paths with two steals. Tyson Blaser (Iowa) hit the games only extra base hit, a double down the right field line in the sixth, to lead the Madison offense. Cody Winarski (MATC-Madison) was tagged with the loss after also tossing a complete game. He struck out eight, but scattered nine hits and allowed five runs – two earned. Joel Hutter (Des Moines Area CC) scampered home on a double-play groundout for the first run of the game. The score gave Green Bay a 1-0 lead only after it was prolonged after the opening frame because of a Mallards throwing error. Nick O’Shea (Minnesota) and Andreoli each scored on a Mallards two-base throwing error in the second. Hutter followed with a single to center field to push Tony Jandron (St. Norbert) across the plate to give the Bullfrogs a quick 4-0 lead. It wasn’t until the eighth inning when Green Bay struck again off Jandron’s RBI hit-by-pitch to score Henricks for the final score.
Brainerd 14 – Thunder Bay 3
T.J. Berge (Northern Colorado) belted two home runs and knocked in four as Brainerd Lakes Area hammered Thunder Bay 14-3. Berge hit a three run homer in a six-run second inning and added a solo shot in the seventh as the Lunkers improved their record to 18-16. David Valesente (St. Joseph’s) added a two-run homer and Brenden Furrow (Concordia) hit a three-run double as Brainerd blew the game open with a seven-run eighth inning. Furrow had a 3-5 night at the plate and Will Pwinica-Worms (Duke) went 3-4 with a run scored to lead the Lunkers 16 hit attack. David Phillips (Ole Miss) went 2-4 and drove in all three runs as the Border Cats (17-16), saw their four game winning streak come to an end. Matt Mulendore (Hamline) pitched two shutout innings in relief to pick up the win and improve his record to 3-1. Matt Robertson (Barton CC) took the loss to fall to 5-6. Robertson went 6 1/3 innings and allowed nine hits and seven runs, although only one run was earned.
Eau Claire 7 – Waterloo 4
In a game that means little for the Eau Claire Express and even less for the Waterloo Bucks, the Express played well and took care of the Bucks 7-4. The Bucks have been eliminated from postseason contention and the Express will not be able to get home field advantage. But both teams played well and the Express offense got on track with the playoffs right around the corner. There was a nice crowd of 2,438 people to see the Express play with the season winding down. It was also a night where the host families were recognized during the game for all of their efforts during the season. The Express did commit three errors on the night, but still played a complete game overall. Joseph Lopez (South Mountain CC) pitched for the Express and he has really pitched well of late. Lopez worked with his future battery mate Will Fadness (South Mountain CC) who made his first start in an Express uniform. Fadness will attend South Mountain CC next year in his first year of college baseball. Lopez was effective and gave the Express a quality start. He went seven strong innings and only allowed two earned runs on the night. The strong pitching performance coupled with a strong offensive performance helped the Express earn the victory. Waterloo took the lead in the first inning 1-0, but Eau Claire answered with three runs in the bottom to take the lead 3-1. Waterloo added a run in the second to get within 3-2. But the Express scored in back to back innings in the fourth and fifth to expand the lead to 5-2. Nate Baumann (Augustana) hit a solo home run onto the football field in the fifth inning. The Express added two more runs in the eighth inning and that was more than enough for Kole Calhoun (Arizona St.) who came on to pitch the ninth inning. Nolan Fadness (UW-Oshkosh), Matt Fritz (Bradley), Bobby Rinard (Yavapai), Drew Heithoff (Augustana) and Baumann all had two hits for the Express who collected 13 total on the night.
Duluth 7 – Rochester 6
The Huskies (11-23) beat the Rochester Honkers (23-12) in the bottom of the ninth 7-6 on Sunday. Duluth trailed 6 to 4 heading into the bottom of the 8th inning when they scored 2 runs to tie the game. In the bottom of the 9th inning Zach Walters (San Diego) scored the winning run on a game winning double by Zac Elgie (Kansas) off the left field wall. Starting pitcher Drew Benes (Arkansas St) threw 5 innings allowing 5 runs (3ER) on 8 hits. Mark Shaver (UMD) pitched 3 solid innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits. Matt Patterson (Creighton) got the win pitching the 9th allowing 0 hits. Duluth had 10 hits on the night, and Pete Cappetta (Illinois) had 2 hits with 3 RBI. Todd Baumgartner (Arkansas St) and Elgie also had 2 hits apiece.
Alexandria 5 – St. Cloud 2
Alexandria gets seven strong from Nick Brown, three hits, steals from Chase Porch in 5-2 win. Nick Brown (Iowa) struck out eight in seven innings of work and Tim Roberson (FGCU) extened his franchise record doubles total to 22 as the Beetles wrapped up their home schedule with a 5-2 win over St. Cloud. The Beetles (38-28) led from start to finish on Sunday, getting a first inning run on a Chase Porch (North Alabama) RBI single. Alexandria drew a walk and racked up three hits in the inning, but two outs on the bases kept the game close. Hunter Carnevale (Pacific) set down the side in order in the second, but ran into trouble in the third and fourth. Jayson Langfels (E. Kentucky) was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning. Porch then hit his second single of the day, and a Tony Renda (Cal-Berkeley) throwing error on a Tim Urban (Nebraska-Omaha) groundball extened the lead to 2-0. Roberson then doubled home another run to push the lead to 3-0. In the fourth, a Keith Castillo (USC) RBI single extended the lead to 4-0, and knocked Carnevale from the ballgame. Meanwhile, Brown was locked in, suffering one hiccup in the fifth when the first three River Bats posted hits, and two runs scored. Alexandria would tack on one more in the bottom of the fifth, and Brown and Kevin Vangheluwe (Michigan) were nearly perfect through eight innings. In the ninth, Matt Miller (Michigan) recorded his tenth save of the summer, getting a double play and ground out in the scoreless ninth.
