The Thunder Bay Border Cats put up nine runs on fourteen hits against the Alexandria Beetles on Monday night. Thunder Bay’s Jeff Deblieux (South Alabama) and Ryan Court (Illinois State) each had three hits on the night to pace the offense. Border Cats designated hitter Ben Scheffer (Florida Tech) hit a two run homer to add to the run total. Thunder Bay and Alexandria both sit at 2-2 during the second half of the NWL season.
Cody Asche (Nebraska) had the best offensive night in the NWL on Monday night against the Rochester Honkers. Asche was 5-for-6 with two runs scored and six RBI. He accounted for more than half of the Huskies offense at Mayo Field on Monday with two of his five hits being homeruns. Asche improved his average to .294 with seven homeruns and 37 RBI.
Don Lisi (Central Missouri) improved to 4-2 on the 2010 season with an 8.0 inning shutout against the Battle Creek Bombers. Lisi only gave up four hits on the night while striking out seven Bomber batters. The Arkansas native improved his ERA to 3.29 in ten appearances this season. Jason Wheeler (Loyola Marymount) also threw a great game giving up four hits and one run over 8.0 innings.
The Eau Claire Express were down 2-1 after the fourth inning, but scored seven unanswered runs to beat the Green Bay Bullfrogs 8-2 on Sunday afternoon. The Express were led by Nate Baumann (Augustana) and Andrew Leonard (Illinois Chicago) who both were 3-for-4 with a RBI.
Two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball players have been battling atop the batting average list. Drew Heithoff (Augustana) is hitting .423 this season which ranks first in the NWL while Willmar native Jordan Smith (St. Cloud State) is hitting .400 for the Stingers. Brandon King (Oral Roberts) is third in the NWL at .377 for the Wisconsin Woodchucks.
Chris O’Dowd (Dartmouth) of the La Crosse Loggers had a great day at the plate on Sunday afternoon. O’Dowd went 3-for-5 with one run scored and three RBI. O’Dowd hit his third homerun of the season and improved his batting average to .321. The Colorado native was selected to the 2010 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. O’Dowd was drafted in the 40th round by the Oakland Athletics in the MLB First Year Player Draft.
Zach Cooper (Central Michigan) helped the Waterloo Bucks beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters by a score of 6-0 on Sunday. Cooper threw 8.0 innings of shutout baseball while only giving up four Rafters hits. Cooper improved his record to 2-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Steven Florez (New Mexico) of the Eau Claire Express also threw a great game while he earned the win. Florez threw 8.0 innings of two run baseball.
Rochester 7, Thunder Bay 1 The Rochester Honkers defeated the Thunder Bay River Cats 7-1 recording back-to-back wins to start the second half. Behind starter Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) the Honkers pitching staff shut down the River Bats surrendering just one run. Strong pitched 7.0 innings allowing just one run on four hits while collecting six strikeouts.
Kyle Gaedele (Valparaiso) led the Madison Mallards to victory Saturday night over the Wisconsin Woodchucks. Gaedele was 4-for-6 with two runs scored, a RBI and a walk. Gaedele is currently hitting .322 in 35 games with 13 extra base hits. Rafael Lopez (Florida State) also had a great day at the plate going 2-for-6 with five RBI and two runs scored for the Mallards.
Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) continued his great pitching for the Rochester Honkers by throwing a gem against the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Strong, who leads the league in strikeouts, threw 7.0 innings of four hit baseball while striking out six. Strong is currently 3-1 in 34 innings pitched. Strong was drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft in the 25th round by the Chicago White Sox.
