Check Out Friday’s NWL Action

Thunder Bay 6, Alexandria 1
Thunder Bay used a three run second and sixth to beat the Beetles 6-1 at Port Arthur Stadium.  Border Cat catcher Taylor Honeycutt (Wingate) was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI.  Evan Mistich (Panola CC) also had a great day at the plate for Thunder Bay 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.  Thunder Bay starter Corey Pappel (Cornell) earned the win throwing 6.1 innings of one run baseball.  The Beetles lone run was scored by Chad Bunting (Cal Berkeley) in the top of the seventh. 

Battle Creek 3, Wisconsin 1
Battle Creek used a great pitching performance from Adrian Garza who threw 8.0 innings while giving up one run to earn the win against the Woodchucks.  Garza shut down the ‘Chucks batters and only gave up five hits while striking out six.  The bottom of the Bombers order pounded out five hits and two RBI against Wisconsin starter Bryce Shafer (Valparaiso) who took the loss despite throwing 6.2 innings and giving up two earned runs. 

Waterloo 7, Eau Claire 5
The Waterloo Bucks were out-hit Friday night, but beat the Eau Claire Express by a score of 7-5 in Eau Claire.  The Bucks Jared Wagoner (Butler) threw a great game from the start giving up only two runs over 7.0 innings to earn the win.  Bucks third basemen was 2-for-4 with one run scored while Tyler Robbins (Dallas Baptist) hit a two-run homer.  Eau Claire’s Drew Heithoff (Augustana) was 1-for-1 to increase his batting average to .419 which is one of the NWL’s best batting average. 

Mankato 9, Willmar 4
The MoonDogs beat the Willmar Stingers 9-4 at Franklin Rogers Park Friday.  The offense that has been struggling as of late came alive early when the MoonDogs scored nine runs in the first three innings. Everyone contributed as the top five hitters in the line up all had two hits on the night.  Taylor Wrenn (USC) went 2-for-4 driving in three of the MoonDogs’ runs. Pitchers Tony Dischler (LSU-Eunice) and Alex Blackford (Arizona State) combined to hold a potent Stingers offense to just four runs. Dischler got the win going five innings allowing three runs and striking out seven Stingers’ batters.  The 1,371 fans that watched the game stayed for the Fireworks Extravaganza.

La Crosse 7, Wisconsin Rapids 1
The La Crosse Loggers were able to end their four-game losing streak on Friday night as they defeated the visiting Wisconsin Rapids Rafters 7-1 at Copeland Park in front of 3,338 fans.  The Loggers were able to jump out to a lead after the first inning as Chris O’Dowd (Dartmouth) hit a two-run home run giving the Loggers an early advantage.  It would not take long or the Rafters to respond however as they cut the lead to just one after a solo home run by Brian Embery (Wayland Baptist) making the score 2-1.  The Loggers offensive drought as of late would come to an end in the fifth when Mike Marjama (Sacramento City CC) would bring the score to 5-1 with his two-run home run.  Loggers starting pitcher Dan Langfield (Memphis) would earn his second win of the season as he allowed just one run on six hits while striking out seven batters in 5.0 innings. 

Duluth 7, Brainerd 4
In a game with 26 hits combined, the Duluth Huskies used six runs in the eighth and ninth inning combined for the win at Stewart C. Mills Field.  The first four hitters for the Duluth Huskies had multi-hit games and were led by third basement Matt Threlkeld (Louisiana Tech) was 2-for-4 with three RBI.  Sam Briend (Oglethorpe) threw the eight to earn the win while Austin Gaines (Florida Gulf Cost) earned the save.  The Lunkers Tommy Reyes (Cal Irvine) had a perfect night at the plate going 4-for-4 with a run scored. 

Madison 4, Green Bay 1
Mallards’ Manager C.J. Thieleke earned his 200th regular season win on Friday night as the Mallards beat the Bullfrogs 4-1 in front of 5,661 at the “Duck Pond.”  Estevan Uriegas (Texas A&M) went 5.0 solid innings of one-run baseball on three hits to pick up his first win of the year.  The Bullfrogs started tonight’s game emphatically with a Tom Barry (San Francisco) leadoff home-run to left-field to jump up 1-0 in the top of the first.  Ryan Levine (Virginia) finished the night 2-for-3 with a run and RBI for the Mallards.

Rochester 5, St. Cloud 3
The Rochester Honkers defeat the St. Cloud River Bats 5-3 in Rochester Friday night.  Honker’s starter David Hurlbut (Cal St. Fullerton) delivered a solid performance on the mound throwing 8.0 innings of shutout baseball. The Honkers collected five singles against the stiff St. Cloud pitching. Devin Thaut (Paradise Valley CC), Danny Pulfer (Oregon) and Chris Elder (Oral Roberts) all recorded RBI on the night.  The Honkers scored the opening run in the bottom of the first inning giving them an early 1-0 lead. Rochester scored again in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single by Pulfer taking the lead 2-0. The Honkers would score three runs in the sixth inning giving them a comfortable 5-0 lead. After St. Cloud scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning, Kadish came in and struck out the only two batters he faced solidifying a 5-3 Rochester win.