Rochester, Minn (June 26th, 2013)–Wednesday night featured a lot of close action across the Northwoods League. All of the games played on the night were decided by three runs of less, which is a rather uncommon occurrence.

In Madison, the Mallards found themselves in a pitchers’ duel, which ended up being a plus. They got a great effort out of their starter and were able to walk off in the bottom of the 9th inning. The walk off was their first on the season.

In St. Cloud, the Rox and Rochester Honkers played through 11 close innings before the Rox won on a walk off. Carter Burgess (Sam Houston) was excellent in the loss, scoring four times and raising his batting average to .464 in 56 at-bats.

Eau Claire 9, Lakeshore 6

After losing their one-run lead in the top of the 7th inning inning, the Express were able to push across five runs in the bottom of the frame and held on for the win. Five different Express batters had multi-hit nights, and three different batters had multi-RBI nights.

Duluth 5, Waterloo 2

Clay Chapman (Florida Southern) turned in a great start for the Huskies. He was able to go six innings while allowing just four hits and one run. He was followed by an impressive effort from the bullpen, where three of the four pitchers combined for three innings, two hits, and no runs.

Wisconsin Rapids 8, Green Bay 6

The Rafters trailed by a run in the bottom of the 7th before they were able to score three times to take a two run lead. The top of the Rafter order combined to go 7/16 with six RBI and five runs scored to lead the way. Donnie Dewees (North Florida) did a lot of the damage by contributing his fourth home run of the season.

Madison 2, Battle Creek 1

The Mallards found themselves in a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday, which worked out in their favor. Jamie Nunn (Appalachian State) pitched five solid innings and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out eight batters. The bullpen stepped in behind him and threw four innings while allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out three.

Willmar 5, Alexandria 2

Outside of a bit of a bump in the road in the 6th inning, the Stinger pitching staff was fantastic on Wednesday. They worked around ten hits and three walks and yielded just one earned run on the night. Sheldon Lee (San Francisco) turned in a great start with just one earned run allowed in 5.1 innings.

St. Cloud 8, Rochester 7 (F/11)

Despite the efforts of Carter Burgess (Sam Houston), who contributed four hits and four runs scored on the evening, the Honkers were unable to come away with a win on Wednesday. In the bottom of the 11th, Blake Headley (Nebraska) pushed across the winning run with a base hit.

Wisconsin 3, La Crosse 1

The Woodchucks and Loggers were delayed for a bit on Wednesday night, but that didn’t stop them from producing the 7th and final close contest on the evening. The Woodchucks got a big appearance in relief from Aaron Fossas (Wake Forest), who came in after two innings and pitched four innings of one-run ball while allowing just three hits and striking out five. 

Thursday Schedule:

Rochester vs. Alexandria- 6:05 (Game 1)
Rochester vs. Alexandria- 8:30 (Game 2)
Willmar vs. Duluth- 6:35
Lakeshore vs. La Crosse- 7:05
Battle Creek vs. Green Bay- 7:05
Wisconsin vs. Madison- 7:05
Eau Claire vs. Wisconsin Rapids- 7:05
Waterloo vs. Thunder Bay- 7:05
St. Cloud vs. Mankato- 7:05