Rochester, Minn (July 10th, 2013)–A pair of long winning streaks rode into Wednesday night with a chance to turn into week-long events. The Waterloo Bucks and Lakeshore Chinooks both had opportunities to start the second half on impressive seven-game winning streaks.
The Waterloo Bucks were able to carry out the mission in a tough road game against the Willmar Stingers. After being held quiet early on, the Bucks got to reliever Zack Tillery (Florida Gulf Coast) in a four run sixth inning.
Unfortunately, the Lakeshore Chinooks did not have the same kind of luck. On their home turf against the Eau Claire Express, the Chinooks were shut down by starter Paul Voelker (Dallas Baptist) who went seven innings and struck out eight while yielding zero earned runs.
Eau Claire 2, Lakeshore 1
The win for the Express halted the Chinooks’ winning streak at six games, and it also created the first loss of the second half for Lakeshore. Starter Paul Voelker (Dallas Baptist) was excellent on the mound and he was followed by a pair of hitless, scoreless innings from the Express bullpen.
Madison 9, Wisconsin 7
The Mallards used the art of the base hit to down the Woodchucks on Wednesday night. While collecting 13 hits, the Mallards only had one extra-base hit. The key for the Mallards was on the bases, where they were able to steal four bags and stretch those singles into doubles.
Duluth 14, Rochester 7
The second half has not been friendly to the Rochester pitching staff, and they had another rough outing on Wednesday. The Huskies followed up a four-run 2nd inning with a six-run 3rd inning to bury the Honkers early. Christopher Harvey (Vanderbilt) and Conor Szczerba (Florida Southern) each collected three hits and drove in three runs in the win.
Green Bay 8, Wisconsin Rapids 5
Both teams had all of their scoring done by the middle of the 5th inning as the ‘Frogs put up a big night on offense. While both starters had very rough nights, the two bullpens combined for eight innings and just six hits while letting in no runs and striking out eight.
Waterloo 6, Willmar 2
The Bucks extended their winning streak in the second half to seven games with a win over Willmar on Wednesday. The Waterloo bullpen allowed zero hits and zero runs in four innings of relief to shut the door after a strong start from TJ Renda (Alabama State). The Bucks overcame eight strikeouts on offense to put up a six spot and get the win.
Mankato 3, Alexandria 1
The MoonDogs’ offense didn’t need to do much thanks to the great effort put up by the pitching staff. Starter Kahana Neal (University of the Cumberlands) didn’t allow an earned run through five innings and was followed by four shutout innings from the MoonDog bullpen.
Thunder Bay 4, St. Cloud 3
The final score doesn’t reflect how dominant Kyle Fischer (St. Cloud State) was for the Rox on Wednesday. The St. Cloud starter racked up seven strikeouts over eight innings and didn’t allow an earned run in the win. Fischer worked out of a jam where he allowed three unearned runs in the 8th inning, and the Rox bullpen was able to shut the door in the 9th for the win.
Battle Creek 4, La Crosse 0
The Bombers used four pitchers to notch the shut out of La Crosse on Wednesday night. Keegan Yuhl (Lee) got the start and allowed only three hits in six shutout innings. He was followed by three nearly flawless innings from the Bomber bullpen.
Thursday Schedule:
Rochester vs. Duluth- 6:35
Eau Claire vs. Lakeshore- 6:35
Wisconsin vs. Madison- 7:05
La Crosse vs. Battle Creek- 7:05
Alexandria vs. Mankato- 7:05
Green Bay vs. Wisconsin Rapids- 7:05
Waterloo vs. Willmar- 7:05
Thunder Bay vs. St. Cloud- 7:05
