Eau Claire, Mankato and Willmar all won tonight as the Express continues to hold a game lead over the Stinger and MoonDogs in the second half North Division standings. Rockford got swept by Kenosha in a doubleheader to give Rapids a 2.5 game lead for first in the second half South Division standings.

Rockford 2, Kenosha 5 (Game 1) (7 Innings)

The Kenosha Kingfish used a five-run third inning to defeat the Rockford Rivets 5-2 in a seven-inning game. The Rivets got a pair in the top of the first when Kian O’Brien (Madison College) hit a single. Kenosha then responded with a five run third which started from a bases loaded hit by pitch which continued with a two-run single from Connor Moroder (Illinois State), a fielder’s choice and RBI single that scored Moroder. Nick Long (Florida) started for the Kingfish, only gave up the two early and picked up the win after throwing 5.2.

Battle Creek 3, Wisconsin Rapids 4 (Game 1) (8 Innings)

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters needed eight innings in a seven-inning game to defeat the Battle Creek Bombers 4-3. Rapids scored once in the bottom of the first when Ryan Stekl (Canisius) singled in a run. Battle Creek took the lead with three in the second which included a two-run dinger by Storm Joop (Indianapolis). Scott Kapers (Valparaiso) tied it for the Rafters in the fourth with a single which would end up forcing extras. Stekl then led off the bottom of the eighth with a long ball that won the game for the Rafters.

Thunder Bay 2, Rochester 4 (Game 1) (7 Innings)

The Rochester Honkers held off a late rally from the Thunder Bay Border Cats and won the game 4-2 in a seven-inning game. The Honkers scored single runs in both the second and third which featured Zach Zubia’s (Texas) 21st home run. Rochester got two RBI singles in the fifth to put them up four. Gabriel Lozada (Hillsborough CC) went deep in the top of the seventh to cut Thunder Bay’s deficit in half, but after an error, the next batter flew out to end the game.

Willmar 6, Waterloo 4

The Willmar Stingers survived a pitcher’s duel early and defeated the Waterloo Bucks 6-4. Luke Chevalier (Northern State) took a no-hitter to the eighth inning as he only issued three walks and struck out five. Ryan Dunne (Western Illinois) threw five scoreless for the Bucks and only allowed two hits and three walks while striking out three. The Stingers jumped on the board for four in the eighth which started with a bases loaded walk and continued when Luke Becker (Kentucky) drove in three from a double. The Bucks got a two-run single in the bottom half from Nicola Mislinski (San Diego). Willmar got two in the top of the ninth as Waterloo attempted a comeback, but only scored a pair of their own as the final guy flew out to end the game.

Bismarck 4, Eau Claire 5

The Eau Claire Express scored in the middle-to-late innings and defeated the Bismarck Larks 5-4. The Larks scored first in the top half of the opening inning as Ryan Anderson (UC Davis) doubled in a run. He then drove in another in the third from a single, but Eau Claire tied it in the fourth which included a solo shot by Garrett Wolforth (Dallas Baptist). The Express then took the lead in the sixth when Daytona Bryden (UW-Whitewater) scored on an error and Josh Norlin (Dallas Baptist) connected on an RBI single. Bryden then knocked in an unearned run from a sac flyout in the seventh. Anderson went deep to put two more up for Bismarck in the eighth, but the side was retired in the ninth to end the game.

Wisconsin 5, Lakeshore 7

The Lakeshore Chinooks stopped a late rally by the Wisconsin Woodchucks and won the game 7-5. The Chinooks got three in the bottom of the first from two long balls by Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) and Matthew Mika (Central Florida). Lakeshore got another in the fourth from an RBI fielder’s choice, but the Chucks came within one in the fifth when Hunter Coleman (Texas A&M) went deep. Lakeshore then responded and added three of their own in the bottom half. Wisconsin tacked on one in the seventh, another in the eighth and threatened in the ninth, but the side was retired to end the game.

Kalamazoo 8, Fond du Lac 6

The Kalamazoo Growlers went back and forth with the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders all night and won the game 8-6. Fondy scored three in the bottom of the first which started with Caleb Summerhays (UNLV) doubling in a run and two more coming from an error. The Growlers then took the lead with four in the third which started with a solo shot by Matt Koehler (Western Carolina). The Spiders then tied it in the bottom half form an BRI double by Eric Gilgenbach Notre Dame). Kalamazoo went ahead by three from one in the fourth and two in the fifth. The Dock Spiders got two in the bottom of the fifth, but the Growlers got another in the top of the sixth. Chet Joslyn (Valparaiso) threw three out of the pen and Andrew Huff (Middle Tennessee State) converted his second save for the Growlers.

Kenosha 6, Rockford 2 (Game 2) (7 Innings)

The Kenosha Kingfish went up with four in the seventh and defeated the Rockford Rivets 6-2. Both teams traded runs in the fourth as Nick Kanavas (Kent State) knocked in two for the Kingfish from a double and Anthony Forte (LSU) doubled in one and scored for Rockford. Nick Drahozal (Nebraska-Omaha) pitched two scoreless for Rockford out of the bullpen as Billy McKay (Florida) pitched the final two for Kenosha. McKay earned the win as the Kingfish put up four in the top of the seventh which started with Connor Doyle (San Deigo) singling in one and when Derek Bangert (Bradley) singled in two at the end.

Madison 14, Green Bay 4

The Madison Mallards powered ahead with five in the seventh and defeated the Green Bay Bullfrogs 14-4. Madison got their first of three in the second when Cade Bunnell (Madison College) singled in a run. Brock Weimer (SIUE) then hit a solo shot in the third for the Mallards, but Mikey Filia (UC Irvine) doubled one in for the Frogs in the bottom half. Madison got an unearned run in the fourth from a sac flyout, but the Bullfrogs used two errors to score three in the fifth. With Madison up one in the seventh, Bunnell scored on a pass ball to start a five-run inning. Bunnell knocked in two from a single in the eighth and then two more scored in the ninth including a solo shot by Matt Elsenpeter (NDSU) which went onto be the final score.

Thunder Bay 4, Rochester 0 (Game 2) (7 Innings)

The Thunder Bay Border Cats used two pitchers and shutout the Rochester Honkers 4-0 in a seven-inning game. Brendan Dougherty (Bradley) went deep to put Thunder Bay up early in the first. The Border Cats then got one in the third and two more in the fifth from RBI singles by Noah Strohl (Grossmont) and Jean Francois-Garon (Bradley). Blaze Bohall (UNLV) threw the first five scoreless for the Border Cats to get the win as Kevin Biondic (Maryland) threw the final two to end the game.

Wisconsin Rapids 9, Battle Creek 1 (Game 2) (7 Innings)

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters poured it on the Battle Creek Bombers and won the seven-inning game 9-1. Ryan Stekl (Canisius) started the scoring with an RBI double for Rapids. The Rafters tacked on four more in the next inning as Stekl drove in another from a single. Rapids scored a pair in the third, but Battle Creek got one in the bottom half when Alex Howard (Arkansas State) doubled in a run. The Rafters got another in the fourth form an error and then one more in the sixth on an RBI double as the Bombers went scoreless in the final three innings to end the game.

St. Cloud 4, La Crosse 9

The La Crosse Loggers scored five early runs and went on to defeat the St. Cloud Rox 9-4. The Loggers got five in the bottom half of the opening inning which was fired by a bases-clearing double from Andrew Tanous (Evansville). The Rox got on the board from an error by the catcher in the fourth, but the Loggers got two from an error. La Crosse got another pair in the fifth, but Matthew Tarantino (Pacific) knocked one in from a triple in the sixth for the Rox. St. Cloud got a single run in the eighth and ninth, but the final guy flew out to end the game.

Duluth 4, Mankato 5 (10 Innings)

The Mankato MoonDogs needed 10 innings to defeat the Duluth Huskie 5-4. The Huskies took a four-run lead in the fourth when Luke Roskam (Nicholls State) hit a grand slam. Mankato then came within one as they got three in the fifth which included a two-run shot by Ethan Valdez (Nebraska). The MoonDogs eventually would force extra innings when Jake Shepski (Notre Dame) drove one in from a triple in the eighth. Then with one out in the bottom of the tenth, Kyle Cuellar (UCLA) drew the fourth walk of the inning which ended up winning the game for Mankato.