FOND DU LAC, WI – On the heels of a 9-0 shutout victory in Green Bay, the Dock Spiders (17-12) earned their fourth consecutive win and ended the three-game win streak for the La Crosse Loggers (14-15) in a sound 5-1 victory at home Thursday night.
The offense did their job early once again, getting on the board in the second to take an early lead. Taylor Jackson (University of Illinois) started with inning an opposite-field single and scored on a wacky play, a bunt from Marcos Sanchez (Texas Wesleyan University) that was fielded and hurled into right.
Victor Scott II (West Virginia University) led off the fifth inning with a walk, and eventually tagged and scored from third on a sacrifice fly from John Rhodes (University of Kentucky) that gave Fondy a 2-0 lead.
The Loggers would bring in their only run in the eighth inning that brought them to within a run.
Fondy would get some separation for peace of mind in the bottom half, scoring three runs on two hits. Rhodes hit a leadoff single and stole second, followed by a walk to Aaron Anderson (Liberty University). With runners at first and second, Parker Noland (Vanderbilt University) dropped a bunt towards the first-base side that created yet another wacky play on a ball that didn’t leave the infield; the throw to first was spiked in the dirt and trickled into right field that allowed Rhodes to come in and score.
Anderson tagged and scored from third base on a sacrifice fly ball to right off the bat of Jack Alexander (Austin Peay) that made it a 4-1 Fondy lead. Ryan Ritter (University of Kentucky) added one more on a line drive to left that scored Sanchez.
The pitching staff made it three consecutive games with double-digit strikeouts en route to the 5-1 win. Jake Saum (UCLA) kept the Loggers off the board in his four and one-third innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six in his outing. Drew Irvine (University of Iowa) had another phenomenal home outing, striking out seven batters in four and two-thirds innings to lock down the win for Fondy.
The Dock Spiders will end their short homestand and host the Loggers again tomorrow night at 6:35, looking for win number five in a row.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26th 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, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.