FOND DU LAC, WI- The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (13-8) picked up their 4th straight win in a 6-4 victory over the Wisconsin Woodchucks (6-15). The Spiders now hold a 4-2 series lead this year over the Woodchucks.
Wisconsin started things early and grabbed a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning when they picked up 2 runs off of 2 hits.
Alex Erro (Northwestern) would lead things off in the second with a single. The next batter up, Jack Wassel (Minnesota), reached first on a fielder’s choice. In his Dock Spiders debut, Tyler Wardwell (Duke) did not disappoint. He finished the night going 2/3 with one run and a walk. In the second inning he had his first hit which pushed Wassel over to third after he had reached second on a wild pitch during Wardwell’s first at bat. Jacob Adams (Ole Miss) would register the RBI with the fielder’s choice decreasing the Woodchucks lead to 1.
Chaos broke lose for the Spiders in the 3rd inning with 2 outs. They gave up a double, walk, and a runner advancing on an error. Wisconsin was able to pick up one run in the inning pushing their lead to 3-1. They would also add on another run in the 6th.
With the deficit at 3 for the Dock Spiders heading into the bottom of the 7th, they took control of the game and never looked back. The first four batters for Fond du Lac all reached on base. Jacob Adams (Ole Miss) reached on a double after Tyler Wardwell (Duke) had reached on a walk.
With two runners on and no outs Jordan Prendiz (UCLA) hit a grounder up the middle that took a funny bounce and split the 6/4 hole right up the middle sending home both runners. Prendiz would then later score tying the game at 4 a piece when he scored on a wild pitch.
Alex Henwood (Nebraska) extended his hit streak to 13 games with a single to follow. After Brad Hudson (Southern Illinois) took a free walk to first after getting hit in the head with a ball, Troy Black (Kentucky) hit a fielder’s choice which drove home Henwood for the 5-4 lead. Alex Erro (Northwestern) hit an RBI single right up the middle which sent in Hudson for the 6-4 lead.
For the second straight night with the Dock Spiders 3 outs away from the win, they would end the game on back to back strikeouts. This time it came from the arm of Michael Hope (Shippensburg) who struck out the last two batters he saw on swings.
The Spiders are now on a 4 game win streak and improved their home record to 8-2. Fond du Lac will be back at home tomorrow night when they host the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters for a two game home stand. First pitch is at 6:35 PM.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 190 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.dockspiders.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Dock Spiders as your favorite team.
