WAUSAU, WI – The Dock Spiders (21-12) picked up right where they left off following their off day as they cruised to an 8-0 shutout win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks (9-23) to extend their win streak to eight games.
Tuesday night’s game started as a great pitcher’s duel between the two, as the game stayed scoreless through the first two innings. It wasn’t until the top of the third inning where the Dock Spiders’ offense finally broke through to end the scoreless tie. With a runner at first, Victor Scott II (West Virginia University) roped a line drive down the right-field line that became a ground-rule double. It would again be Tim Elko (University of Mississippi) recording an RBI-hit, his 19th run batted in this season, that put Fond du Lac on the board first.
The Dock Spiders would open things up in the sixth after two separate errors on the Woodchucks allowed four runs to score. With runners at first and third and one out, Caleb Durbin (Washington University in St. Louis) hit a ground ball to short that was botched that brought a run home. A double play on that ground ball would have ended the inning but instead, it opened the door for Fondy with runners at first and second. In his Dock Spiders debut, A.J. Miller (University of Oregon) hit a three-run bomb to right field that capped off their four-run sixth and made it 5-0.
In the eighth, Durbin would score on a wild pitch to the backstop that extended the Dock Spiders lead to 6-0.
Fondy would tack on two more in their last at-bats, with Aaron Anderson (Liberty University) sending the first pitch he saw into orbit for his second home run of the year to make it 7-0. Marcos Sanchez (Texas Wesleyan University) reached on a walk and eventually worked his way home after another wild pitch got to the backstop and allowed the Dock Spiders to score their eighth run of the night. With the 8-0 win, Fond du Lac has won their last game and is averaging 8.25 runs per game during that streak.
Parker Noland (Vanderbilt University) had a strong night at the plate, going 4-5 and stealing two bases, the only Dock Spider to record a stolen base in the game.
It was another night of solid pitching for Fond du Lac, as they sent five different pitchers to the mound, all of whom recorded at least one strikeout. Jake Brooks (UCLA) started the game on the mound and put in his best performance of the season, allowing just three hits in four innings and striking out three in the process. It was Brooks’ longest outing this season and first without allowing a run since July 4th at La Crosse. Trace Hoffman (University of Iowa) threw two innings and struck out two batters, and received the win to improve to 3-2.
McCrae Wiest (Tyler Junior College) was one of four different Dock Spiders to make their debuts tonight, two of which were pitchers. Wiest went an inning and two-thirds and allowed just one hit while striking out four, the most among Dock Spiders’ pitchers on the night. Hayden Fox (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) finished the eighth inning with a strikeout, the lone out he recorded in his first game in Fondy. Ryan Robison (Purdue University Fort Wayne) finished out the ninth inning with a strikeout to notch eleven total on the night for the pitching staff.
The Dock Spiders will return home to finish out the home-and-home against the Woodchucks with a 6:35 pm start time on Wednesday night.
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.