Green Bay 3, Wisconsin Rapids 2
Wisconsin Rapids 3, Green Bay 2

The Rafters split a pair of pitching duels, both by a 3-2 score, in a double header Thursday in Green Bay, winning the first, losing the second.  After six innings in game one the Rafters had yet to score despite seven hits. But hit number eight turned the tide. Michael Smith (North Florida) drove the first pitch of the seventh inning deep to left-center field to tie the game at one. The Rafters picked up two more in the inning on an RBI double by Evan Laude (Rhode Island). Starter George Lott (North Florida) retired two batters in the seventh before Steve Godawa (Valparaiso) nailed down the final out of a 3-2 win.

Game two started well for the Rafters, who led 2-0 into the fourth. But a fly ball home run, just inside the foul pole, off of starter Tommy Organ (North Florida) in the fourth made it 2-1 Rafters. Organ bounced back, struck out the next batter and ended the night with three strike outs over four innings pitched.  The Bullfrogs scored their second run off of Dan Johnson (Rhode Island) in the fifth, to tie the game at two. Then, with Brad Douthit (USC) on the hill in the seventh, Scott Schebler (Wichita State) played hero for Green Bay with a walk-off RBI double to win the second game, 3-2.  

Wisconsin 9, Eau Claire 4
The Wisconsin Woodchucks matched a season high for hits with 14 as they took their final game of the first half with the Eau Claire Express 9-5 at Carson Park.  The Woodchucks bats were hot all night and ‘Chucks base runners crossed the plate early and often, as even very sloppy fielding, marked by 6 errors, could keep the Woodchucks out of the win column.  The Woodchucks first scored in the second inning when Jamie Bruno (Louisiana State) led off with a single and came around to score on Brock Stassi’s (Nevada Reno) RBI base hit to right.  The Woodchucks grabbed two more in the fourth, when Sharif Othman (California Baptist) hit a 2-run homer.  The Woodchucks would eventually lead 4-0 in the fifth when Kevin Pillar (Cal State Dominguez), who hit leadoff for the first time this season, singled, stole a pair of bases, and scored on Robbie De La Cruz’s (UNLV) single down the first base line.

Alexandria 4, Brainerd 0
The Alexandria Beetles beat Brainerd by a score of 4-0 at Knute Nelson Park.  Alexandria was led by center fielder Patrick Biondi (Michigan) who had two hits and a walk.  The Beetles got a great pitching performance out of Kevin Vangheluwe (Michigan) who threw 5.0 innings in relief and only gave up four hits and zero runs.  Dorian Williams (Emporia State) and Levi Ferguson (Indiana State) each had two hits for Brainerd. 

 Mankato 5, Thunder Bay 0
The Mankato MoonDogs blanked the Thunder Bay Border Cats by a score of 5-0.  Mankato was led by Cody Fick (Evansville) who had three hits, one run scored and an RBI.  MoonDog starting pitcher Jimmy Stokes (Elon) threw 6.0 innings of two hit, scoreless baseball.  Thunder Bay did have five hits, but couldn’t must any runs. 

St. Cloud 6, Duluth 5
The St. Cloud River Bats beat the Duluth Huskies 6-5 in 11 innings on Thursday night.  The Huskies out hit the River Bats 18-11, but the River Bats scored when it was needed.  St. Cloud received a three hit performance out of catcher, Mitchell Garver (New Mexico).  They also had five pitchers throw for the River Bats with J.C. Casey (Missouri State) getting the win.  The Huskies Jeff Reynolds (Harvard) had a three hit day with two RBI. 

Willmar, Rochester
After the same two teams combined for 23 runs in Wednesday night’s game, the Stingers and Rochester Honkers could only manage one measly run on Thursday night.  But thankfully for Stingers fans, it went in the Stingers’ column courtesy of a Matt Serna (Illinois Chicago) RBI single in the fourth, upping his team-leading RBI total to 13.  Charley Olson (Georgia State) allowed just two hits in eight shutout innings, striking out nine Honkers along the way.  Olson’s first win of 2010 bumped his record to 1-2, and the Stingers back to .500 as they evened their record up at 7-7.  For the Honkers, Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) couldn’t live up to his name, giving up eight hits in just five and a third in a decidedly weak outing.  In his sixth relief appearance this year, Stingers righty Jayson Huett (Northwest Missouri) struck out two in a perfect ninth inning, to earn his second save of the season.

Battle Creek 10, Madison 8
Tonight’s match-up between the Mallards and Bombers went back and forth through ten innings until Bombers second-baseman Brett Kauten (Spring Arbor) hit a two RBI single to lead his team to a 10-8 win in front of 4,583 at the “Duck Pond.”  Battle Creek’s Chad Jasman (Kellogg CC) picks up the win after pitching 2.1 innings while giving up two runs on three hits. The save goes to last night’s winner Nate Blankemeyer (Cleveland State) for getting the last two outs with the go-ahead run at the plate.  J.R. Graham (Santa Clara) walked three and gave up four runs (three earned) in the last two innings to receive his first loss of the season.