Rochester, Minn (July 13th, 2013)–Saturday night was friendly to home teams throughout the Northwoods League. With six wins and just two losses, the advantage of home field was felt all across the league.
The Waterloo Bucks have been one of the hottest teams in the league of late, and they were among the squads to take advantage of playing at home on Saturday. Their offense erupted for 11 runs on 15 hits in a route or Alexandria.
The Willmar Stingers and Battle Creek Bombers were the two road squads to emerge victorious on Saturday. They won by two and four runs respectively.
Thunder Bay 6, St. Cloud 2
The Border Cats got a great start from Clint Knoblauch (Florida Gulf Coast) in their win over St. Cloud. Knoblauch went seven innings and allowed just one run while striking out five batters. He was able to spread around six hits and three walks on the night.
Lakeshore 3, Madison 0
The Chinooks used five different pitchers to shut out the Mallards while allowing just five hits on Saturday. Lakeshore successfully defended home turf against their South Division rivals. John Norwood (Vanderbilt) contributed a double and an RBI in the win.
Wisconsin 4, La Crosse 3
The Woodchucks got down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th, and then they were able to rally for the win. Garrett Rucker (Arkansas) hit a home run and a double as he drove in a run and scored twice to lead the Woodchucks on offense.
Eau Claire 9, Wisconsin Rapids 1
The Express were able to come away with a win on Saturday thanks to a great start from Taylor Lehnert (Central Michigan). Lehnert pitched seven innings and gave up one run on five hits while striking out six batters. The Rafters’ bullpen followed with two perfect innings to secure the win.
Battle Creek 10, Green Bay 6
The Bombers put up six runs in the 6th inning to help claim a four run win over the Green Bay Bullfrogs. Tyler Moore (LSU) had a big night out of the clean up spot for the Bombers with two hits and three RBI. The four hitters behind him also did a solid job as they combined for six RBI of their own.
Willmar 5, Rochester 3
The Stingers got help from their bullpen, which allowed just one run over 3.2 innings in relief. Marc Flores (Hawaii) hit a pair of doubles, scored twice, and drove in a run to lead the offensive effort. The Honkers were unable to build on their Friday win.
Waterloo 11, Alexandria 3
After having their win streak snapped on Friday, the Bucks wasted no time in coming back with a win on Saturday. The team was led by the duo at the top of their lineup, which consisted of Pat MacKenzie (Central Michigan) and Connor McClain (Indiana State). The duo combined for three hits, two runs, and six RBI.
Mankato 15, Duluth 6
The MoonDogs put up ten runs in a huge 3rd inning to seal the deal early against the Duluth Huskies. The charge was led by Timothy Arakawa (Oklahoma State) who put up a gigantic night out of the lead off spot. Arakawa went 5/6 with four RBI and three runs scored. He also stole his 24th base on the season.
Sunday Schedule:
Eau Claire vs. Wisconsin Rapids- 1:05
Battle Creek vs. Green Bay- 1:05
Rochester vs. Duluth- 5:05
Lakeshore vs. Madison- 5:05
La Crosse vs. Wisconsin- 5:05
St. Cloud vs. Willmar- 6:05
Alexandria vs. Mankato- 6:05
Thunder Bay vs. Waterloo- 6:35
