Mallards Extend Winning Streak to Three
The Mallards and the MoonDogs fought inch for inch until the fourth inning as the Mallards pulled away and gathered enough insurance to defeat Mankato 7-2 Wednesday and extend their winning streak to three games. The Mallards are now over the .500 mark in the second half at 9-8, and have won eight of their last ten games.
Once again the Mallards got things rolling in the first inning as Jordan Comadena led off with a single. After advancing to third with one out Evan LeBlanc laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Comadena and give the Mallards a 1-0 lead.
Mankato answered back in the bottom half of the first as Nate Hanson singled to left with one out and advanced to second as Jason Christian was thrown out at home by Jordan Comadena. First baseman Adam Abraham singled back up the middle scoring Hanson and tying the game at one a piece.
Ryan Tinkoff led off the third with a single and advanced to third with one out after a Brandon Wikoff single to left. Randy Molina continued to give offensive support as he flied out down the left field line scoring Tinkoff on a sacrifice fly and giving the Mallards a 2-1 edge.
Just like the first inning the MoonDogs were able to answer back to Madison as Jason Christian reached base on a Randy Molina error. After stealing second and reaching third on a pass ball from right-handed starting Mallards pitcher Brian Smith, Christian scored on a Nate Hanson single back up the middle which tied the game 2-2.
Madison broke out in the fourth as another Mallard lead-off man reached base to start the inning in Bobby Hubbard (pictured below). With Hubbard then on third and Daniel Webb on second following a single, All-Star catcher Eric Nielsen (pictured above) grounded out to short and Hubbard scored giving the Mallards a 3-2 lead. Ryan Tinkoff once again singled to score Daniel Webb and extend the lead 4-2. Capping off the big inning was Jordan Comadena who doubled to right to score Tinkoff and the Mallards were out to a 5-2 lead.
From then on Brian Smith took care of the rest as Smith went an impressive seven innings of work and allowed just one earned run on five hits. Smith also struck out two and walked one batter through out his start. At one point through the fifth and seventh innings Smith retired five straight and got great support defensively from the guys behind him.
The Mallards added two more big insurance runs in the top half of the ninth as Bobby Hubbard drove in two runs with a big time triple down the right field line scoring Blake Eller and Brandon Wikoff.
Travis High entered the game for the Mallards and shutdown the MoonDogs to finish the game and give Madison their third straight victory over Mankato this season.
MoonDogs starter Brendan Lafferty was bounced around by the Mallards bats as he went six innings of work and and allowed three earned runs on seven hits. Both squads allowed two errors a piece and Lafferty was only able to strike out one batter.
Mankato has now dropped two straight and are 7-10 in the second half portion of the ‘07 season. The two-game set concludes Thursday evening with first pitch at 7:05 pm.
Madison returns to the Duck Pond Friday, July 27 to face Wisconsin as it’s Stop Working With Monkeys Night, presented by Concordia University. Meet Mikey the Monkey & watch him play catch & have fun all night long. Win two-class tuition waivers from Concordia to make sure you can stop working with the Monkeys in your office soon! Monkees Covers by the Gomers!
