DULUTH, Minn. – The Wausau Woodchucks (32-14, 11-5) beat the Duluth Huskies (20-29, 4-10) by a score of 1-0 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon, winning the series despite the best pitched game of the season for Duluth. The Woodchucks picked up their fourth straight win, while Duluth dropped their fourth in a row.
Brett Foss was the story of the game in the Twin Ports. The right-hander for Wausau pitched nine innings to earn the win, but not the complete game. Foss allowed one hit, four walks (one intentional) and struck out nine in nine scoreless, throwing 70 of his 110 pitches for strikes.
Foss walked the leadoff man in the game, but stranded Maddox Monsour at third in the first. He didn’t allow another baserunner until Wyatt Pennington singled to center field, becoming the first and only Husky to pick up a hit in the game with two outs in the fifth. Foss walked George McIntyre in the seventh but left him in scoring position. The only inning where Duluth got two runners on was the ninth, where a one out walk from Kayden Campbell and a stolen base led to Jalen Smith, a pinch hitter in the game, being intentionally walked with two outs. Foss struck McIntyre out looking to end the threat and send the game to extras.
Duluth threw local product Owen Marsolek on the mound for his first home start of the campaign. Marsolek was excellent in his own right, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out seven in five innings. Marsolek struggled with walks, issuing six plus a hit-by-pitch. Despite that, he threw 60% of his pitches for strikes and kept the Woodchucks guessing all day. Marsolek faced the bases loaded and one out in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, he struck out Sawyer Tolk and Hayden Groebl to escape, and in the fifth he caught Jackson Petsche looking before inducing an inning-ending groundout to Campbell at third.
Brent Godina took over in relief and excelled, walking one and allowing no hits in two innings. Godina struck out the first two he faced, following by a walk to Groebl, but then set down four in a row to end his day. Devin Costa got the ball for the eighth and struck out the side. In the ninth, Costa added two more strikeouts to bring his total to five in two innings.
The 10th inning saw pinch-runner Bradon Durfee come on as the ghost runner, starting at second base. Costa used his nifty inside move to pick Durfee off after one pitch, and it looked for a moment like Duluth would escape without giving up the expected run. Instead, Peyton Firgens ripped a double down the left field line and Gatlin Pitts followed it up with a bloop single into right to push a run across.
That ended up being the difference. Andrew Ermis tried three times to get a bunt down but couldn’t, popping out with two strikes. Pennington moved McIntyre, Duluth’s ghost runner, to third with a groundout, but Brayden Smith could not deliver in the clutch. A lazy fly ball to center field was handled by his fellow Brayden, the two-way Mazzacano. Jack Garvey earned his first save for the 10th inning relief, as Duluth was shut out for the third time this series and held to just one run in two games against Wausau.
On Deck
The Huskies will have a day off Monday, followed by a return trip to play the Woodchucks in Wausau, where the hosts are 18-3. Duluth will finish out its road trip with a scheduled nine-inning double header on Wednesday at Wisconsin Rapids, before returning home for a season-long seven game home stand beginning on Friday. Tickets for all Huskies home games can be bought online on the team website, and all Huskies game action can be streamed on FloSports.