Duluth Sets Franchise Wins Record with Double-Digit Victory
The Duluth Huskies got another win over the Mankato Moondogs, this time in dominant fashion as the offense struck for 14 runs to take a 14-4 win. The 44th win of the season is a new franchise record. Both the pitching and the lineup were stellar for the Huskies, and they stay in first place in both the second half and overall standings.
All-Star Troy Newell (Western Kentucky) got the start for the Huskies. He ran into trouble early in the first, allowing two runs to score. But afterwards, Newell settled down and made it easily through the next three innings without any more damage. Newell was taken out of the game after four innings as he prepares to pitch on Tuesday in the Major League Dreams Showcase.
Augie Isaacson (Friends University) led off the first with a single. As he has done all year, he manufactured a run by stealing second base and then scoring on a pair of groundouts. The stolen base is his 38th of the year as he tries to reach Joey Bonadonna’s franchise record of 45 in a season.
In the second inning, Hunter Bigge (Harvard) singled on a line drive, and then Julian Escobedo (San Diego State) brought him in with another single to tie the game.
With the score tied in the third inning, the Huskies offense took off when Sean Watkins (Cal State LA) brought in two runners with a single, and four runs scored in that inning. Four more runs scored in the fourth, and three more in the fifth with the Huskies batting around again gave Duluth a double-digit lead.
Nick Sogard (Loyola Marymount) finished with a fantastic day at the plate. The All-Star shortstop drew three walks and scored four runs.
The bullpen picked up the slack for Newell, combining for five innings of work and only allowing two runs. Jason Braziel (Friends University), Kyle Mora (UC-San Diego) and Augie Voight (William Penn) combined to keep the game out of reach.
The win is the seventh straight by Duluth over Mankato as they complete a fantastic season series against one of the league’s top teams. The Huskies move to 44-20 overall, keeping a three-game lead over the Willmar Stingers. In the second half standings, Duluth is now 20-8 and a half-game over La Crosse.
Duluth can clinch a playoff spot tomorrow with a win, a loss by Mankato to Bismarck and a loss by La Crosse to Willmar. Duluth will take the Eau Claire Express from Wade Stadium tomorrow with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. Andrew Stout (Liberty) will be on the mound tomorrow trying to improve his 5-1 record.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering 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
