The Mankato MoonDogs jumped out to a four run lead and took the game 6-4 from the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers. The MoonDogs starter, Blake Schwartz (Minnesota State Mankato), threw 7.0 innings while only giving up two runs. Tim Fangman earned the save throwing the final 1.0 inning. Jordan Steranka (Penn State) had three RBI while second basemen Sam Lind had three hits and two runs scored. Chadd Kristi (California Berkeley) had three hits in the loss.
Chris Licon improved his record to 3-2 on the 2010 NWL season by beating the Battle Creek Bombers 6-3. Licon, a Wisconsin Woodchuck, threw an eight hitter over 8.0 innings while only giving up three earned runs. The righty currently has 38.2 innings pitched while striking out 27 and only walking two.
Austin Gaines (Florida Gulf Coast) helped the Duluth Huskies beat the Rochester Honkers by a score of 9-5 Tuesday night. Gaines improved his average to .314 after going 3-for-4. He also scored three runs and knocked in three runs of his own. He also hit a home run. Zach McCool (Iowa) was a perfect 4-for-4 for the Waterloo Bucks tonight.
The Duluth Huskies beat the Rochester Honkers by a score of 9-5 at Mayo Field on Tuesday night. The Huskies used a three run third inning and four in the fifth to take an 8-0 lead and never looked back. Austin Gaines led the Huskies at the plate with a 3-for-4 day with three runs scored and three RBI. The Honkers Davy Wright (TCU) was 3-for-4 in the loss with two 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
