Alex Rivers (Santa Clara) fell to 1-2 after allowing four runs on three hits in six innings of work.
Madison, WI – July 17, 2009. It was Jacob House’s (Arkansas) fifth inning grand slam that propelled Green Bay to a 7-2 win and a road series sweep over the Mallards in front of 6,368 strong at the “Duck Pond” on Friday night.
Madison starter Alex Rivers looked strong early, nearly unhittable through the first four innings, but Green Bay starter Brent Ebinger (Lambuth) was able to outlast the righty to earn the victory despite the Mallards out-hitting the Bullfrogs 8-6.
Rivers set the tone early, striking out the side in the first inning, but needed 25 pitches to do so. In the second, it looked as if the Mallards may be on the wrong end of another big inning when Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) misplayed the backhand at short, but Rivers made up for it by retiring the next three batters in order.
“I thought Alex did a nice job early,” Pitching Coach Jason Immekus said.
Madison’s bats woke up with three straight singles to lead off their half of the second inning. They got their first lead of the game when the newest member of the Mallards, Brashad Johnson (Des Moines Area CC), cracked a one out RBI single to right center field to give the Mallards a 1-0 lead.
“I was a little nervous,” Johnson said of his first at-bat with the Mallards. “It was a long day. I got up early, got to the park at noon and just tried not to do too much. Just tried to do my part and drive in a run and it worked out.”
In the third, Green Bay’s number nine hitter, Sam Vanden Heuvel (Rhode Island), recorded the first hit against the Madison right-hander, but that was quickly erased when Rivers got Joel Hutter (Des Moines Area CC) to ground into a 5-4-3 twin killing.
Through the first four innings, Rivers showed great control, striking out six while walking just one, but in the fifth inning he couldn’t seem to find the strike zone. The righty walked the bases loaded and then gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Jacob House (Arkansas), his second homer of the year and a no-doubter to the duck blind in right field.
“I think he started pressing in the fifth,” Immekus said. “He was falling behind a lot of hitters and was trying to estabish his fastball and it just got away from him there.”
House finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a walk, five RBI and two runs scored.
Meanwhile, the Green Bay lefty managed to get out of trouble on two occassions. He got stronger as the game went on and finished what teammate Zach Varce (Portland) started with a win in game one.
“He did a nice job,” Immekus said. “He was able to throw a couple of his pitches for strikes and also was able to get out of a couple jams himself.”
In the Mallards’ half of the fifth and with two on and two-out, Joe Patterson (Texas A&M) hit a grounder that struck the pitching rubber and shot 15 feet into the air, allowing him enough time to reach first and Muller enough time to score the Mallards’ second run of the game, making it 4-2 Bullfrogs.
Green Bay added two more in the seventh on a House RBI ground rule double to right and a Riley Henricks (Portland) RBI single to left. They would add one more run in the ninth and that was all they needed to wrap up a road series sweep of the Mallards.
Ebinger earned his third win of the year, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out seven and walking just two over five innings of work. The Mallards left 11 runners on base and lacked the timely hitting that they succeeded so well at early on in the year.
“We needed it hit the ball better,” Johnson said. “We had runners on, we just didn’t score.”
Johnson may have just met his Mallard teammates, but there was a familiar face on the other side in Green Bay third baseman and Des Moines Area CC teammate Hutter.
“It’s fun,” Johnson said of playing against his college teammate. “You know what kind of player he is and you can tell the coaches how to pitch to him.”
Madison pitching will look to step it up in game one of a two-game set against Eau Claire tomorrow night. The Mallards will send left-hander Matt Jansen (Purdue) to the hill for the 6:05 p.m. start at the “Duck Pond”. Jansen is seeking his team-leading sixth win of the year.
