Published On: August 12th, 2021

Huskies’ bats give Duluth third straight win 

 

Brendan Reilly, bgr28@miami.edu

 

Mankato, Minn- On a night where the Duluth Huskies could of clinched the second seed in the Great Plains East, the Duluth Huskies did what they could with the magic number being at two, completing the series sweep over the Mankato Moondogs, with a 14-8 win at ISG Field Thursday night. 

After a night where Duluth (29-37) dominated Mankato (43-23) from start to finish, it was more of the same this evening. The Huskies jumped out to an early lead once again, scoring in the first inning for the second time in as many nights. Michael Brooks reached on an error, he was able to come around after advancing to second on a wild pitch, then scoring after he stole third, and the throw from catcher Austin Garrett ended up in left field.

Cameron Pool made his third start against Mankato this season and battled over three innings, walking two and striking out three, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. Then, the bats came alive in the top of the third.

Cason Tollett led off the inning with a four-pitch walk, and after Charlie Rhee reached on an error, Mike Boeve dug into the box with one out. Boeve earlier this year hit a home run in the All-Star Game back on July 23rd, and with a 1-2 count, he got his pitch, and drove it over the Dog Pound Suites in right for his second home run on the year. The Huskies went up 4-0 and were not done there. 

Ryan McDonald in arguably his best game for Duluth, knocked Mankato starter Dalton Mesaris out of the game after two and one thirds. 

Owen Boerema came in for Mesaris, and on the first pitch he served up, Calyn Halvorson sent it out of ISG Field for his first home run of the season and putting Duluth up 6-0. 

Duluth would then tack on six more runs in the top half of the fourth, batting around in the inning, helped by Mankato’s pitching. With the bases loaded and two outs with two runs already in, Ambren Voitik brought in two runs on an RBI single, and Dom Meza followed him with an RBI ground rule double. Duluth would lead 12-0 after four innings.

After scoring 12 runs to lead off the game, Mankato responded with eight straight runs, putting up four in the fifth and four in the seventh. But Duluth would be able to hang on, putting up two insurance runs in the eight, winning 14-8. 

Grant Taival would pick up his first win of the season, going the eighth and the ninth inning. Voitik, Boeve, and Halvorson would finish with three RBIs on the night each, as the Huskies over the two-game series put up 26 runs on 23 hits. Duluth and Mankato split their season series at four games apiece. 

Duluth had a chance at securing the second spot in the Great Plains East division with the win if Waterloo was able to take down Eau Claire, but the Express kept their season alive for now, defeating Waterloo 8-2. 

The Huskies still hold a two-game lead over Eau Claire heading into the final two games of the season. Duluth’s magic number is down to one, and with a win tomorrow over the Bismarck Larks, the Huskies will be postseason bound for the first time since 2018. 

First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 from Wade Stadium for game number 67 of the year while Eau Claire travels to Wilmar to play the Stingers. 

 

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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.

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