Willmar’s 15 hits and Duluth’s 4 errors cost Huskies game one
Duluth, Minn — The Huskies and the Willmar Stingers began a short two-game stint on Tuesday night as the Huskies would try to rebound from a series loss to the Eau Claire Express. Justin Moore would get his first start of the season in game one for Duluth and faced the right-handed Polo Portela who claimed a 1.47 ERA over 36.2 innings coming into the matchup.
The Stingers drew first blood after Brandon Boissiere reached base in the first inning with a one-out walk. The three-hole hitter Chase Stanke would be the one to deliver the blow with a 2-run home run to grab an early lead.
Boissiere and Stanke continued to have Moore’s number when they both reached base to begin the bottom of the 3rd inning. The next batter Brandon Bohning flew out to center field for the 1st out of the bottom frame but both Stanke and Boissiere tagged up to put runners in scoring position. Moore would be pulled as Dan Jansen took the mound for his season debut. After inducing a flyout for the 2nd out, Noah Haupt drew a walk to load the bases for Andrew Lucas who scored Boissiere and Stanke with a 2-RBI single to go up 4-0. The next batter Kevin Saenz extended the Willmar lead to 6 with a double that scored Haupt and Lucas.
Willmar once again got their first two hitters on base in their half of the 4th from back to back singles from Sam Baier and Brandon Boissiere. But this time Jansen would allow no runs as he scattered three outs over the next four batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Huskies would scratch across their first run of the night with a two-out rally in the top of the 5th from Lance Ford and Matt Hogan. Ford drew a walk and would easily score from 1st when Hogan hit his 3rd triple of the summer to make it 6-1. Hogan finished tonight’s game with 3 hits.
The Stingers would not be phased though as they roared back to score 4 runs and make it a 10-run game. Kevin Saenz scored his 1st run when he came home on an error, and Boissiere blasted a 3 run home run to push their run total to 11 as the 6th inning got underway. The Stinger’s first 3 hitters in the order combined to get 7 hits with 5 RBI’s and scored 7 runs in the blowout.
Duluth managed to get runners on 1st and 2nd with a couple outs but failed to bring either in. Darren Jansen would then hand the ball to Owen Meaney who struck out the first two batters he faced and induced a pop out to Nic Kent at Shortstop, the first inning the Stingers didn’t score a run since way back in the 2nd.
Sam Baier led off Willmar’s half of the 7th with his 3rd single of the night which was followed up by Brandon Boissiere drawing his 2nd walk. But Meaney induced a 4-6-3 double play and struck out Brandon Bohning to strand Baier.
The Huskies did get back on the scoreboard in the top of the 8th though when Max Guzman hit a 3-run longball that scored himself, Nic Kent, and Alex Tappen. That was Guzman’s 2nd home run in as many days.
Noah Haupt logged his 2nd hit of the ballgame in the next half inning with a run-scoring double with no outs to give Willmar 12 runs on the night. They kept on hitting as Kevin Saenz got his 3rd hit and 3rd RBI with a double, but Meaney got 3 consecutive outs to minimize the damage.
Duluth’s bats would be set down in order in the top of the 9th as the final score read 13-4 Willmar.
The Huskies will try and tie up the series in the finale tomorrow night. First pitch is set for 7:05 pm with live game coverage on 92.1 The Fan and twinportssportshub.com beginning at 6:55 pm. All Duluth Huskies and Northwoods League games are live-streamed online at portal.stretchlive.com/nwl to watch.
Be sure to follow the Duluth Huskies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all season long. Check out duluthhuskies.com for tickets to upcoming games. For more in-depth news on the Huskies, be sure to follow @XtraInningsWithRyne and @JoeChatzHuskies on Facebook.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th anniversary 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, more than 200 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.