The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters won their second game in a run as they defeated the Madison Mallards and now hold a 7-game lead over Battle Creek. Mankato, St. Cloud and Waterloo all lost tonight as the MoonDogs and Rox are tied for first and the Bucks are a game back from them.
Fond du Lac 3, Lakeshore 9
The Lakeshore Chinooks got off to a hot start and never looked back as they defeated the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 9-3. Lakeshore got things started when leadoff man Matthew Mika (Central Florida) led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored from an RBI double by Rylan Thomas (Central Florida). Mika got in the mix again when he contributed a grand slam to a five-run inning. Fondy scored their first run in the third when K.V. Edwards (Missouri) came home on an RBI ground out. They got another in the fifth when Eric Gilgenbach (Notre Dame) led off the inning with a home run. Both teams traded runs in the seventh and Lakeshore tacked on two more in the eighth which ended up being the final score.
Kenosha 6, Wisconsin 12
The Wisconsin Woodchucks went off for 12 runs in the opening inning as they went on to defeat the Kenosha Kingfish 12-6. The Chucks’ first started when James Davison (Miami) scored on a wild pitch and Stevie Mangrum (Virginia Tech) hit an RBI double. Mangrum then scored on an RBI double in the next at bat which was followed by a single and error. Jackson Owens (Texas A&M-CC) added three from the long ball and Trey Dawson (Chipola) knocked in three from a double. The Kingfish added a pair in the fifth when Sage Bruhl (Madison College) scored on a sac fly and Mike Madej (Purdue) singled in one. Kenosha added three more in the eighth when Tyler Paulsen (Illinois State) went deep. Paulsen delivered an RBI single in the top of the ninth with two outs, but the next batter bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Kalamazoo 7, Rockford 10
The Rockford Rivets tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh as they went on to defeat the Kalamazoo Growlers 10-7. Kalamazoo scored first with three runs in the opening inning which started with back-to-back RBI singles by Jack Duffy (Missouri State) and Jason Sullivan (Central Michigan). The Rivets responded to tie the game with three which started with an RBI single by Zach Watson (LSU) as he later scored on an RBI fielder’s choice. The Rivets took the lead with five in the second as Brian Klein (Texas Tech) singled in a run which was followed by a bases loaded walk and a two-run single. An error by the second baseman then scored the fifth of the inning. The Growlers got one in the third and three more in the seventh when Duffy went deep. The Rivets went up three in the bottom half from a pair which would go on to be the final score.
Battle Creek 12, Green Bay 8
The Battle Creek Bombers held off late scoring from the Green Bay Bullfrogs and won 12-8. The Frogs took the lead first in the bottom half of the opening inning when Mikey Filia (UC Irvine) started a three-run inning with an RBI single. JD Mundy (Virginia Tech) put Battle Creek on the board with an RBI single in the second. The Bombers then exploded for six in the next inning which started from Alec Trela (Memphis) singling in a run. An error by the catcher and two wild pitches sent three more home which was then followed by a two-run single by Nikola Vasic ( ). The Frogs got one back in the bottom half from a sac fly, but Battle Creek hung three more up in the fourth when Nick Walker (Austin Peay) went yard. Vasic drove in another in the fifth, but Green Bay chipped away with one of their own in the bottom half. The Bombers got one more in the seventh form a solo shot by Cody Hawken (Portland). A sac fly in the eighth sent in one for the Bullfrogs as Willie Bourbon (Northwestern) kept them alive in the ninth with a two-run shot, but the side was retired by flyouts to end the game.
Bismarck 4, Rochester 3
The Bismarck Larks held the Rochester Honkers to just one run in the seventh as they went on to win 4-3. Bismarck put up two right away in the first when Connor Perry (Pittsburgh) led off the game with a home run and Ryan Anderson (UC Davis) went deep later in the inning. Zach Zubia (Texas) got in the mix as he put the Honkers on the board with a solo shot in the bottom half. Both teams traded runs in the sixth as Perry scored on a sac fly and Morgan McCullough (Oregon) did the same for Rochester. They traded runs once more in the seventh when Luke Waldek (Minnesota State) hit a solo shot for Bismarck and Griffin Neuer (Bellarmine) scored on an RBI ground out for the Honkers. The Larks then got the final two scoreless from Jamie Kaye (Augsburg) as he converted his second save.
Eau Claire 3, La Crosse 5
The La Crosse Loggers built an early lead and prevented the Eau Claire Express from coming back as they won 5-3. The Loggers scored three in the second from back-to-back home runs by Jorge Guiterrez (Texas A&M) and Cameron Blake (Texas A&M). Justin Evans (Columbus State) put Eau Claire on the board with a solo shot in the third, but La Crosse added two in the fourth from a two-run single. Eau Claire attempted a comeback in the eighth when Tyrus Greene (California) knocked in two from a single, but Charlie Fletcher (William & Mary) threw a scoreless ninth to end the game.
Mankato 7, Thunder Bay 8
The Thunder Bay Border Cats walked it off in the ninth as they defeated the Mankato MoonDogs 8-7. Daniel Amaral (UCLA) scored the first run for Mankato in the opening inning from a sac fly. Amaral then knocked in a run in the second from a ground out. Thunder Bay got on the board in the in the third when Mark Venice (St. Johns) scored on a sac fly. Amaral delivered again in the fourth with an RBI single, but the Border Cats took the lead in the bottom half with three runs. Nick Ciandro (Cabrillo) hit an RBI double and he later scored on the second of back-to-back RBI singles. Mankato got the lead back in the sixth with a pair of runs, but Thunder Bay retook control after single runs in the seventh and eighth. The MoonDogs then went up by one in the top of the ninth from a two-run double by Logan Busch. Ciandro then tied the game in the bottom half with one out and then with two outs, Brendan Dougherty (Bradley) won the game with a run-scoring single.
Wisconsin Rapids 5, Madison 2
The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters broke a tie in the eighth and defeated the Madison Mallards 5-2. The Mallards were on the board first when Thomas Smart (Oakton) led off the third with a home run. Rapids took the lead with a pair of runs in the sixth as Bryson Stott (UNLV) knocked in one from a single and Christian Jones (Campbell) followed with one of his own. Madison tied the game with one in the bottom half from Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. (California) singling in a run. The Rafters then took the lead in the eighth which included two runs scoring on errors as that would end up being the final score.
Duluth 6, St. Cloud 0
The Duluth Huskies used two pitchers to shutout the St. Cloud Rox 6-0 tonight. Ryan Tapani (Creighton) threw the first seven scoreless for Duluth as he only allowed six hit and struck out seven. Kyle Boser (St. Cloud State) also threw shutout baseball in his first start for the Rox as he threw six, on only three hits and two walks while striking out four. The Huskies then got the scoring started in the eighth when Gabe Knowles (Minnesota) doubled in two runs and he scored on another two-run double. The fifth came unearned from a sac fly in the next at bat. Duluth got one more in the next inning from a Jake Smith (St. Thomas) RBI single. Colin Baumgard (Minnesota Duluth) ended up throwing the final two scoreless to end the game for the Huskies.
Waterloo 1, Willmar 2
The Willmar Stingers used a two-run third to defeat the Waterloo Bucks 2-1. Jared Crescentini (Missouri Baptist) pitched the first 2.1 scoreless for the Bucks until Josh Bissonette (Baylor) singled in Marcus Still (New Mexico State) which started a two-run inning. He pitched until the middle of the sixth and gave way to the bullpen as they threw the rest of the game scoreless. Polo Portela (Sacramento City) on the other hand threw 7 scoreless for the Stingers until Dalton Hurd (Seattle) scored on a wild pitch after he was pulled which was still his responsibility. Calvin Coker (Auburn) then threw the final 1.2 scoreless for Willmar as he converted his third save.
Schedule for July 21:
Lakeshore @ Fond du Lac (6:35 PM)
St. Cloud @ Duluth (6:35 PM)
Kalamazoo @ Rockford (6:35 PM)
Waterloo @ Willmar (7:05 PM)
Bismarck @ Rochester (7:05 PM)
Mankato @ Thunder Bay (7:05 PM)
Kenosha @ Wisconsin (7:05 PM)
Wisconsin Rapids @ Madison (7:05 PM)
La Crosse @ Eau Claire (7:05 PM)
Battle Creek @ Green Bay (7:05 PM)