Things in the Northwoods League became a bit more interesting Thursday night as the Madison Mallards lost to the Rochester Honkers 3-1 in Rochester, pulling the Honkers within one game of home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Mallards are still tied with Thunder Bay for the best overall record in the league, thanks to a 5-3 Brainerd victory over the Border Cats Thursday.

Ryan Rogowski once again provided much of the Mallards offense, going 2-for-4 with the Ducks lone RBI.

Jake Hansen started the game for the Mallards, pitching only three innings and allowing two earned runs. Mike Creevy allowed the third Honkers run.

Madison and Rochester are back in action Friday night in Rochester, the final regular season meeting between the two teams. Burke Baldwin is set to take the mound for Madison against Efren Navarro. The Mallards return home to finish the regular season Saturday and Sunday night at 6:05 p.m. taking on the Wisconsin Woodchucks. Tickets for remaining Mallards home games may be purchased online at www.mallardsbaseball.com or by phone at 246.4277.