FOND DU LAC, WI – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders used two home runs on offense along with five shutout innings from Austin Wagner (Mary) to win their fourth straight, defeating the Green Bay Rockers 4-2 on the road.
With the win, the Dock Spiders improved to 15-12 on the season, while the Rockers fell to 9-20. Wagner (3-2) earned the win while Garrett Houston (Georgia-Gwinnett) brought home his third save of the year.
On the mound, Wagner’s six strikeouts brought his total to a team-best 27 on the year before he surrendered his first walk of the season in the fifth, becoming the last qualified pitcher in the Northwoods League to walk a batter this summer.
The Dock Spiders struck first on offense for the seventh straight game when Evan Smith (West Virginia) launched a two-run home run over the wall in right to give the Dock Spiders an early 2-0 lead. In the fourth, Cole Messina (South Carolina) continued his torrid stretch at the plate, tallying his second extra-base hit of the game, and second home run in two days with a shot to right-center field that gave the Dock Spiders a 3-0 lead. Over the last two games, Messina is now 5-9 with two home runs, eight RBI and five extra-base hits.
After Wagner exited the game, the Rockers struck back in the seventh with two runs to cut the Dock Spiders lead to one. Alex Vera (Illinois) shut the door in the inning after a two-RBI single, striking out the next three batters to keep the Dock Spiders in the lead. In the ninth, Houston would pitch a one-two-three inning on just 10 pitches to seal the game for the Dock Spiders.
Fond du Lac returns home tomorrow night to start a five-game homestand starting with a game against the Rockers at 6:35 p.m.
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’ 28th 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 280 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit dockspiders.com 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.
