Willmar joins St. Cloud and Mankato with a playoff berth in the North tonight as they defeated Thunder Bay. Battle Creek defeated Lakeshore and now joins Wisconsin Rapids in the playoffs in the South. Eau Claire currently holds a game lead in the second half North Standings over Mankato and a two-game lead over Willmar.

Kalamazoo 7, Green Bay 0 (Game 1) (7 Innings)

The Kalamazoo Growlers scored early and late as they defeated the Green Bay Bullfrogs 7-0. Kalamazoo got three right away in the first when Jack Duffy (Missouri State) started things with an RBI double as he scored from a fielder’s choice and another came home on an error. Duffy started another three-run inning in the second with an RBI single and then he scored later in the inning from a double. Matt Koehler (Western Carolina) then homered in the seventh as JR Holloway (Oklahoma City) went the distance for the Growlers and struck out six for his second win.

Wisconsin Rapids 5, Rockford 3

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters added an insurance run in the top of the ninth while defeating the Rockford Rivets 5-3. The Rivets got a pair in the bottom of the first when Brian Klein (Texas Tech) went deep. Ryan Stekl (Canisius) then put Rapids on the board from an RBI double in the third and then added two more in the fourth to take the lead from a two-run single by Nick Anderson (Texas A&M-CC). Rapids added one in the fifth, Rockford came within one in the seventh on an error, but Anderson scored on an error in the ninth which ended up being the final score.

Rochester 3, Duluth 7

The Duluth Huskies only allowed the Rochester Honkers to score in one inning as they won the game 7-3. The Huskies scored first with one in the opening inning when Chase Strumpf (UCLA) doubled in one. Rob Emery (San Francisco) then knocked one in from a double of his own in the fourth for Duluth and scored later in the inning. Zach Zubia (Texas) started a three-run inning for Rochester with a double that knocked in an unearned run. Duluth added one in the seventh and then three more in the eighth as the Honkers went down in-order in the ninth to end the game.

Kenosha 4, Fond du Lac 5

The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders walked it off in the bottom of the ninth and defeated the Kenosha Kingfish 5-4. Fondy got one in the bottom of the first when Nick Fortes (Ole Miss) doubled in a run. The Spiders got two more in the second from a sac flyout and an RBI single by Thomas Luevano (Creighton). The Kingfish came within one in the third from two unearned runs, but the Dock Spiders got another one in the bottom half from a solo shot by Brandon Wulff (Stanford). Kenosha got one in the seventh from an RBI single and then tied it in the top of the ninth from Tyler Paulsen (Illinois State) scoring on a wild pitch. Eric Gilgenbach (Notre Dame) then knocked in the game-winning run for Fondy in the bottom half from a triple.

Battle Creek 5, Lakeshore 4

The Battle Creek Bombers survived a pitcher’s duel early in the game and defeated the Lakeshore Chinooks 5-4. Max Swan (Kellogg CC) started for Battle Creek and threw the first seven and only allowed one run on eight hits. Luke Sommerfeld (Sant Louis) threw seven for Lakeshore and didn’t allow a run on two hits and three walks while striking out nine. The Chinooks got on the board in the seventh from an RBI fielder’s choice. Battle Creek then took the lead with five in the eighth as Nick Walker (Austin Peay) drove in two from a single and Nehwon Norkeh (Tennessee Wesleyan) knocked in two from a double. The Chinooks got three in the bottom half when Daniel DeSimone (Oklahoma State) homered, but failed to score in the ninth.

Waterloo 4, La Crosse 5

The La Crosse Loggers scored four times in the eighth and defeated the Waterloo Bucks 5-4. The Loggers got one in the bottom of the third from a sac flyout. Deion Thompson (Western Illinois) then tied the game for Waterloo as he went deep to leadoff the fifth. Drew Greenwood hit a dinger for the Bucks in the seventh and then they got two more in the eighth. The Loggers then retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth as they put up four which started from Jorge Guiterrez (Texas A&M) driving in three as he advanced from an error. Waterloo then went down in-order in the ninth to end the game.

Willmar 15, Thunder Bay 3

The Willmar Stingers poured it on the Thunder Bay Border Cats all game as they won 15-3. The Stingers got a pair of runs in the opening inning when Nolan Bumstead (CSUN) singled one in and scored on an RBI triple. Luke Becker (Kentucky) then homered to put Willmar up four in the second Josh Bissonette (Baylor) drove one in from a single in the fourth and then scored later in the inning. Thunder Bay put up two of their own in the bottom half which included an RBI double by Jean Francois-Garon (Bradley). The Border Cats put up another four in the seventh as Justus Nelson (Missouri ST) drove in two from a single and Thunder Bay got one in the bottom half from an RBI ground out. Willmar put up one in the eighth on a wild pitch and then four in the ninth which ended up being the final score.

Eau Claire 2, St. Cloud 0

The Eau Claire Express used two pitchers to shutout and defeat the St. Cloud Rox 2-0. The Express got one in the second when Adam LaRock (Iowa) scored on a stolen base. Ryan Zimmerman (St. Thomas) started for Eau Claire and pitched the first seven scoreless on five hits and one walk while striking out six. Luke Bandy (Dallas Baptist) added one more for Eau Claire with an RBI single in the eighth. Cameron Eden (California) singled for St. Cloud to leadoff the bottom of the ninth, but Kenny Ogg (Ohio) shutdown the next three to earn his second save.

Kalamazoo 5, Green Bay 0 (Game 2) (7 Innings)

The Kalamazoo Growlers got their second complete game shutout in a doubleheader victory as they won game two 5-0. Kalamazoo got four in the fourth to take a lead halfway through the game. They added one more in the top of the seventh as Dakota Roberts (Kalamazoo CC) shutdown the Bullfrogs in the seventh as he only allowed three hits on three walks while striking out eight for his second win. Jack Duffy (Missouri State) connected on a double in one of his two hits and Connor Hollis (Houston) doubled in another for the Growlers.

Madison 1, Wisconsin 7

The Wisconsin Woodchucks only gave up one run of scoring to the Madison Mallards and won the game 7-1. The Woodchucks got things going right away with three in the bottom of the first as Yeager Taylor (UC Riverside) knocked in two from a double. Wisconsin got their next three in the seventh as Hunter Coleman (Texas A&M) cleared the bases with a triple. Korey Rasure (Texas A&M-CC) threw six in his start for the Chucks and gave up no runs on four hits and five walks while striking out five. Madison got their one and only run from Tommy Bullock (UNC-Charlotte) doubling in one, but the Woodchucks got one more in the eighth as Lenny Gwizdala (Northwood) picked up his second save.

Mankato 0, Bismarck 10

The Bismarck Larks scored all ten runs in the bottom of the eighth as the defeated the Mankato MoonDogs tonight. Ricky Digrugilliers (Minnesota State) started for Mankato and threw seven scoreless on two hits and one walk while striking out seven. Carson Smith (Bethel) threw seven in his start for the Larks as he only allowed three hits and three walks while striking out three. Ryan Anderson (UC Davis) and Luke Horanski (Virginia Tech) then got things going with two RBI singles to start the ten-run inning. Two bases loaded walks brought in the next, as an error scored two more and three RBI singles scored the rest. Chris Roycroft (Aurora) then threw the final two for Bismarck to end the game.

 

Schedule for August 12:

Rockford @ Kalamazoo (5:05 PM) (Game 1)

Lakeshore @ Wisconsin Rapids (6:05 PM)

La Crosse @ Bismarck (6:05 PM)

Kenosha @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM)

St. Cloud @ Eau Claire (6:35 PM)

Duluth @ Waterloo (6:35 PM)

Green Bay @ Fond du Lac (6:35 PM)

Battle Creek @ Madison (6:35 PM)

Mankato @ Rochester (7:05 PM)

Kalamazoo @ Rockford (7:35 PM) (Game 2)

Willmar @ Thunder Bay (7:35 PM)