The Duluth Huskies fell, 9-1, to the Thunder Bay Border Cats Friday night at Wade Stadium in a matchup of the top two teams in the Great Plains East.
With a chance to climb within one game of the division-leading Border Cats (9-2), instead it was Thunder Bay on the plus side of the two-game swing. They now hold a three-game lead over the Huskies (6-5). On a night in which the post game fireworks show was impressive, the offensive fireworks usually delivered during games by the Duluth offense were noticeably absent in the defeat.
Familiar issues haunted the Huskies again in this contest. Walks and errors were a problem for Duluth as they had six walks (plus two hit batters) and two more errors to add to their ledger. Additionally, escaping the first two innings unscathed was a problem again. Entering the game today, the Huskies allowed 21 runs in the first two innings of play, and today, added two more to that total, after they fell behinf early, 2-0, in the first inning – those two runs proved to be all the Border Cats needed as they chased Huskies starter Jakob Schulz after one inning.
On the flip side, Border Cats starting pitcher Jack Pineau cashed in a sterling performance for Thunder Bay, going seven strong innings allowing just four hits, one walk, and fanning eight Huskies on the day.
The Border Cats broke it open in the fourth after the Huskies cut it down to 2-1 on a MJ Sweeney sacrifice fly, scoring four runs just a half inning after the Duluth tally, battering Duluth’s Miguel Villafane out of the bullpen.
They would later add two more in the sixth and one in the seventh to make the 9-1 final score.
The Huskies have another shot against the Border Cats at home tomorrow night in game three of this six-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm.