On a night when the opponents of the Madison Mallards were playing their biggest game of the season, the Mallards played a complete game and were very impressive in posting an 8-3 win to improve to 12-19 on the season.
Their opponent, the Mankato Moon Dogs, were tied for first in the Northwood’s League Northern Division and held the tiebreaker going into Monday night’s game. The scores of the rest of the league’s action was unavailable at press time.
Madison jumped out to an early lead against Mankato starter Kevin Crowley. Right fielder Nick Cadena singled to lead off the second and scored on an RBI single by catcher Matt Pagnozzi to make it 1-0. The Mallards scored two more on four hits in the second, including RBI’s by Matt Bose and Cadena to make it 3-0.
The Moon Dogs fought back to tie the score with a single run in the fourth and two in the fifth off Mallard starter Cody Hall. Hall lasted five innings, giving up four hits and three runs, though only two earned, while walking one and striking out one.
Madison regained a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Designated hitter Charlie Babineaux led off the inning with a single and ended up scoring on a Matt Bose sacrifice fly. The Mallards then busted the game wide open in the seventh off Moon Dog reliever Jeremy Hall.
A combination a four hits and a hit batter produced three runs to give the Mallards a 7-3 lead. For the evening, the Mallards had 16 hits, including four by Jaime Martinez and three by Nick Cadena.
The Mallards concluded the scoring with a single run in the eighth on a solo home run to left field by Erik Johnson. It was Johnson’s second homer of the season, tying him for the team lead.
Hall picked up the win for the Mallards to go to 2-3 on the season. Crowley took the loss to fall to 2-3 for the Moon Dogs, who are now 16-14 with one game left in the first half of the season.
The Mallards conclude the first half of the season Tuesday night with game two of this two game series against the Moon Dogs. Game time is set for 7:05pm.