Duluth can’t overcome late three run deficit
Following a 17-4 blowout victory for the Duluth Huskies over Thunder Bay on Thursday, the two squads met again at Wade Stadium for the second game of the two game series.
The Huskies (22-10) fell behind early and then again late in the game, ultimately failing to overcome the Border Cats (10-22) offense in a tough 6-4 loss.
Thunder Bay opened up the scoring in the second inning on an RBI single by Evan Russell (Tennessee) to make it 1-0 early.
The Huskies came right back in the bottom half of the second inning with a run of their own. Following a leadoff double by Chris Gilbody (Georgetown College), Trevin Esquerra (Loyola Marymount) grounded out to first, allowing Gilbody to score in the process, tying the game at 1-1.
Duluth took their first and only lead of the evening in the fifth inning thanks to a two RBI triple by Julian Escobedo (San Diego State) off of Border Cats starting pitcher Erik Key (Lamar University)
On the night, Key finished with six innings pitched, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out two Duluth batters.
Duluth’s 3-1 lead did not last long, as Thunder Bay came back in the sixth inning with three runs to take the lead for good.
The scoring got started with an RBI double by Brady Gulakowski (North Carolina State) to make it 3-2. Three batters later, Cam Pearcey (Coastal Carolina) singled in two more runs in a pinch-hitting appearance to put Thunder Bay on top 4-3.
The Border Cats increased their lead in the seventh inning thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles by Nick Conti (Eckerd College) and Gulakowski to bring the Huskies deficit to three runs.
In the bottom half of the inning, Duluth got one run back thanks to an RBI single by Nick Sogard (Loyola Marymount) in a pinch-hitting appearance.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, the scoring stopped there as they were held off the scoreboard in the eighth and ninth innings on their way to a tough 6-4 loss against Thunder Bay.
With the loss, the Huskies fall to 22-10 on the year. With only four games to play in the first half title race, Duluth still holds a slim one game lead in the North Division. Winning the first half secures a home playoff game for the team in August.
The Huskies are back in action tomorrow as they take on the Mankato Moondogs on the road in the first of two games against them. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. and, as always, you can tune in live on the radio on 92.1 The Fan in and around Duluth.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team
