Series Preview
August 7, 2007 @ 6:05 p.m.
Madison Mallards (19-8, 35-26) Vs. Battle Creek Bombers (9-18, 24-37)
The final road trip of the 2007 regular season comes to a familiar stop for the Mallards as they once again face off against Battle Creek for a two-game set. This is the third time the Bombers and Mallards have met in the past five days, and in this occasion the stakes are much higher on the Madison side.
Madison is undeniably on a terror entering Tuesday having won 13 straight and if Madison does happen to sweep the Bombers this time around, they will tie Green Bay for the longest winning streak in Northwoods League history. Green Bay had their streak from June 9 to June 24 in the first half of this season. Ironically, Green Bay’s final two victories during that span came against none other than Battle Creek.
Surprisingly, the Mallards winnings ways have not been half of the chaos that has been built around the South Division playoff race. Eau Claire continues to lead the Mallards by a half game as they swept La Crosse in back-to-back late inning heroic victories.
The way the Mallards and the Express have been playing as of late will make for an interesting final regular season series at the Duck Pond. However the Mallards cannot look beyond the Bombers as right-handed throwing Brian Smith will take the hill tonight.
Smith has won three straight starts and has allowed one earned run in his last two appearances. In those last two starts Smith went 16 innings of work, allowed nine hits and struck out 10 batters. Smith threw a complete game shutout against Waterloo back on August 1.
Right-hander J.D. Haver is on the mound for the Bombers and he too is coming off a solid performance on August 1 going five and two-thirds innings of work, allowing three earned runs and striking out three in a win against Rochester. Haver enters Tuesday 1-1 with a 5.46 ERA.
The question on everyone’s mind is can the Mallards focus on the game at hand and not what is coming at the end of the week? The answer is in Madison’s hands and they must be careful as Battle Creek will play the spoiler role. The Bombers took two from a tough Alexandria club on Monday as their pitching staff allowed just a combined two runs in the double-header played.
Madison answered the call in the last series against Battle Creek, putting up a total of 19 runs on the board. The Bombers will have to do better than a 5.37 team ERA against the Mallards in order to have any chance in this series.
Mallards leading hitters Randy Molina and Brandon Wikoff have been ambushing the Bombers in the season series. Molina is hitting .440 (11-25) with four runs scored, four doubles, and five runs batted in. Wikoff is batting .412 (7-17) against Battle Creek pitching with five runs scored and an RBI.
Madison returns to the Duck Pond August 9 to begin their final home stand of the 2007 regular season against two very dangerous squads from both divisions in Duluth and Eau Claire. Remember Mallards fans you can catch all the Mallards action on 100.5 FM, Madison’s sports radio station.
