Strong pitching and timely hitting for the second straight evening propelled the Mallards to the second win in as many days over the Duluth Huskies. Mallards? pitchers duplicated their performance of a night before, holding the Huskies to one run. Madison?s starting pitcher Billy Phillips provided a convincing effort, and the defense was error-free en route to a 6-1 victory at Warner Park.

Phillips (2-1) struck out six in five innings of work to pick up his second victory. The lone blemish in the outing was an earned run, which he gave up in the fourth inning. Zach Peterson pitched two and two thirds innings of scoreless relief, and D.J. Roshone finished off the Huskies in the ninth.

Jared Johnson had a key two-run double down the left field line to give the Mallards a 3-1 lead. Greg Thomson had several quality at bats, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Doug Beck followed Johnson with an RBI single to put the Mallards up 4-1. Jay Johnson and Jeff Bieker each went 2-for-4 for the Mallards.

The Mallards (15-12) continue their six-game homestand tomorrow night at 7:05, sending right-handed hurler Ricky Bauer (1-2) to the mound against the division rival Waterloo Bucks. After losing tonight in Thunder Bay, La Crosse now has only a two and a half game lead over Madison for first place in the South Division. Tickets for all Mallards games are available online at www.mallardsbaseball.com, and at our office located at 2920 N. Sherman Ave.