The Duluth Huskies dropped its home opener to the Badlands Big Sticks, 6-2, at Wade Stadium Sunday afternoon. The loss puts the Huskies at 4-3 on the young season, with all three of its losses coming against the Big Sticks.
Coming into the game having scored 39 runs over the past four contests, including double digits in each of the last three, the Huskies mustered only two for the announced opening crowd of 842 in a brisk two hours and 38 minutes.
It was a familiar pitching foe for both teams as both teams’ starters faced the other in their opening starts of the season. Gilbert Saunders got the ball today for the Huskies, looking for a better result than his first go-around vs the Big Sticks when he pitched just two innings, allowing two runs. Things started smoothly, with a 1-2-3 top of the first that included two strikeouts, but in the second, the Big Sticks got to him for two in the second to take a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, the Huskies offense responded, tying the game at two off of Big Sticks starter Tyler Conklin, who they could not score on in five innings in the team’s second meeting of the year, thanks to an RBI triple from Joe Vos and an RBI single from Ethan Cole. With the triple, Vos extended his current hit streak to five games.
Aside from some minor turbulence in the third inning, it was smooth sailing for Conklin, much like in his previous outing against Duluth. He ended up going five innings, allowing just four runs and two hits. Braxton Greenburg pitched the final four innings of the contest for Badlands, not allowing a single run in scattering four hits.
With the pitching staff holding down the Huskies, the Big Sticks offense did more than enough from there, scoring three in the top of the fourth against Saunders with all the damage being done with two outs. They would add one more later on to make the 6-2 final.
The Huskies have one more shot to take down Badlands in the regular season as the two teams will rematch today in a Monday matinee at 12:05 pm CST on Education Day at Wade Stadium.
