LA CROSSE, WI – After Saturday night’s near four hour game between the Loggers and the Mud Puppies, electric pitching by both teams allowed Sunday night’s game to breeze by in just under two and a half hours.
On the mound for Minnesota was Will Fazio out of St. John’s. Fazio pitched well to the tune of five scoreless innings to begin the game. It was the sixth, however, when his armor began to crack. In the bottom of the sixth, Brandon Fields would double to lead-off the inning before a single by Matthew Piotrowski would bring him home from second, making the score 1-0.
Taking the bump for the Loggers was Andrew Regner, the Winona State Warrior. Regner pitched an incredible eight scoreless innings with three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. He kept his pitch-count low, not pitching more than 21 pitches in an inning and finishing the game having thrown 97. With the Logger offense only able to muster one run, it was Regner that positioned his squad in winning territory.
The ninth inning was given to Aiden Moffett in a 1-0 ballgame. He began the inning by surrendering a hit-by-pitch to Chayton Fischer to put the lead-off man on. Next, Carter Hanson would reach base on an error, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Charlie Sutherland would then walk to load the bases. Fans at Copeland Park were on the edges of their seats, confident in their flamethrower pitcher (who hit 101 miles per hour on the speed gun) yet nervous about the situation of the game. With the bases loaded, Moffett got Brock Larsen to chase strike three out of the zone for the first out. He followed that up by causing Tanner Thompson to swing and miss for out number two. Everyone at Copeland Park rose to their feet for the last out of the game. Moffett’s pitches consistently in the high 90s were too much for Hunter Daymond as he went down swinging to end the game. Moffett had gotten out of the bases-loaded jam to the many cheers and applause of the Logger faithful.
With the loss, the Mud Puppies fall to 4-19 and will play their final two games of the season against the St. Cloud Rox on Friday and Saturday. With the win, the Loggers improve to 23-5, eager to potentially clinch a playoff spot this week in Thunder Bay.
