North
Duluth 6, Thunder Bay 2
The Duluth Huskies took the second straight game of a three game series at Wade Stadium Sunday evening 6-2 against the Thunder Bay Border Cats. This was the debut for Huskies’ pitcher Austin Lubinsky (Minnesota), who had a strong outing. Lubinsky tossed 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out two batters. Tied up at 3 runs apiece, the Huskies loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th inning with no outs, and Jake Wise (Arkansas) drove in Marcus Riewer (Minnesota-Duluth) on an RBI single to right field. Chris Manship then came to the plate and was hit by a pitch, which plated K.C. Clabough (Florida Tech), and Brian Hansen (St. Cloud St.) reached on an error, driving in Andrew Dixon (Purdue) for the third run of the inning.
Mankato 2, Brainerd 1
It took extra innings Sunday for the MoonDogs to take down the Lunkers. Mankato scored in the bottom of the 14th to defeat Brainerd. Rudy Weiser (Emporia State) worked the count and finally found his pitch for the walk-off base hit as he lined one down the first base line and drove in Scott Sommerfeld (Missouri) for the game-winning run. Sommerfeld had two hits in the win. For the Lunkers, Aaron Griffin (Loyola-Marymount) pitched a gem of a game, carrying a perfect game into the bottom of the 7th inning before a Matt Reida (Kentucky) single ruined the perfect game bid for Griffin.
Willmar 10, Rochester 3
Willmar used back-to-back five run innings to beat the Honkers 10-3 at Bill Taunton Stadium in Willmar, Minn. The bottom of the Stingers order drove in eight runs as Jake Stinnett (Maryland), Eduardo Gonzalez, Mitch Rowan (Willamette), and Anthony Hincy (Doane) combined on a 7-for-15 afternoon with five runs scored. Starting pitcher Ricky Knapp (Florida Gulf Coast) improved to 2-0 on the season and Dan Russell (Western Illinois) earned is 1st save of the 2011 season.
Alexandria 5, St. Cloud 3
Alexandria defeated St. Cloud for a second straight night at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn., thanks again to early runs and strong pitching. The Beetles won 5-3 to take the series from the River Bats Sunday with the third game scheduled for Monday night at Knute Nelson Memorial Park. Kevin Vangheluwe (Michigan) was outstanding in 7.0 innings of work. For a second straight start, Vangheluwe did not allow a hit for the first 4.0 innings of the game. He ended up with 7.0 innings pitched and allowed no runs on just three hits. Casey Shiver (Southern Polytechnic) earned his second save of the season.
South
Green Bay 2, Waterloo 1
The Green Bay Bullfrogs used a two run 3rd inning to come from behind Sunday against the Waterloo Bucks at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo. The Bullfrogs Andy Hunter (Gonzaga) drove in the only RBIs for the visiting Bullfrogs. Hunter was 2-for-3 on the night with a double and also a walk. Tim Giel (Columbia) earned his 2nd win of the season as he threw 5.0 innings while only allowing one run. John Colella (Holy Cross) registered his 3rd save of the season as he threw 2.0 innings of scoreless baseball. Davis Hendrickson (Illinois) was 3-for-4 in the loss for the Bucks.
Wisconsin Rapids 2, Eau Claire 1
The Rafters won at home in a pitching duel Sunday afternoon. Eau Claire Express starter Alec Crawford (DMACC) and Rafters starting pitcher Brad Douthit (USC) both threw 7.0 innings. Douthit earned the win after allowing three hits and zero runs and Crawford was the tough luck loser has he only allowed two runs. Kyle Peterson (Eastern Michigan) and Curtis Frisbie (Nevada-Reno) both had an RBI in the win for Wisconsin Rapids.
Madison 11, Battle Creek 1
Jumpy Garcia (Texas A&M Corpus-Christi) and Jordan Owen (Tennessee-Martin) paced the Mallards offense on Sunday against the Bombers. Garcia and Owen both had three hits and drove in two runs apiece. Mike McQuillan (Iowa) stayed hot at the plate for the Mallards as he had two hits and scored two runs. Tom Windle (Minnesota) evened his record at 1-1 with a five hitter in 6.0 innings of work.
La Crosse 11, Wisconsin 2
The Loggers used two big innings to take down the Woodchucks at Athletic Park in Wausau, Wis. La Crosse scored five runs in the 4th inning and four more in the 9th to beat Wisconsin 11-2. The four run 9th inning was fueled by pinch hitter Blake Shepherd (Viterbo). Shepherd only had one at-bat Sunday, but made it count as he blasted a grand slam to put the game out of reach. Brando Tessar earned his 1st win of the season on the mound after throwing 7.0 innings and striking out seven Woodchucks.
