The Waterloo Bucks had their sights set on a 10th win of the year and a sweep of the two game set with the Huskies. They were able to take care of both of those objectives on Monday.
The Huskies started Gaylon Viney on the mound who allowed five runs on six hits through 3 2/3 innings. Bucks batters took advantage of early mistakes and quickly built a five run lead. They extended that lead to six, but the Huskies bullpen limited the damage, surrendering only 4 hits in the final 5 1/3 innings.
The Bucks sent Nathan Walker to the hill in the second game of the series and he baffled Huskies hitters through five innings. He struck out five and allowed just one run on four hits. The Huskies had an opportunity to cut into the early Waterloo lead, after Carter Hanford led off the fourth inning with a triple, but were unable to get him across the plate. The first runs for the home team came in the fifth inning after two throwing errors by the Bucks granted them a single run. In the sixth, three walks, two hit by pitches, and one wild pitch afforded the Huskies two more runs. This proved to be their best scoring chance of the day. However, they weren’t able to capitalize further as Carter Hanford was sat down on strikes with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Huskies added two more runs on a Caleb Robinson double off the left field fence in the seventh inning, scoring Kai Gomez, and Augie Isaacson. Kevin Folman came on in the ninth for the Huskies, and retired the Bucks in order. Isaacson led off the bottom-half of the inning with a walk that got past Waterloo backstop John Cable, allowing him to get to second. On the ensuing play, Isaacson tried to advance to third on a ground ball hit directly at him, and was hung out to dry in between second and third. The Huskies kept the tying run at the plate, but were unable to capitalize.
The Huskies have dropped five straight and now fall to 6-8, as the Bucks improve to 10-4. Tomorrow’s road doubleheader with Thunder Bay will be played at Wade Stadium. The first game will start at 12:00 PM, with the nightcap beginning at 6:35. As always, gates will open an hour prior to first pitch for both contests. Come out and support your Huskies on Tuesday!