By: Ryan Hill — Public Relations

Madison, WI — August 10, 2013. The Madison Mallards (20-16, 41-28) scored five in the third and starter Andrew Arenson (Carthage) allowed just one run over 5.1 innings Saturday night at Warner Park to guide the Mallards to a 9-3 win over the Lakeshore Chinooks (22-13, 43-26).

The Mallards win combined with a 6-2 La Crosse Loggers win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks tonight means the Mallards opponent in the divisional round of the Northwoods League playoffs is yet to be determined. A Lakeshore win or a La Crosse loss tomorrow would put the Chinooks in the playoffs while a La Crosse win and a Lakeshore loss tomorrow would mean the Mallards would square off against the Loggers starting Monday.

The Mallards only sent seven to the plate in the first two innings off of Chinooks starter Kyle Bouman (Jefferson College) before exploding for five hits and five runs in the third. John LaPrise (Virginia) got things rolling with an RBI groundout to second that scored Brock Stewart (Illinois State) before Drew Weeks (North Florida) hit a bomb to right-center to put the Mallards up 3-1. A walk and two straight RBI singles from Joe McCarthy (Virginia) and Alex Bacon (North Florida) with two outs capped off the scoring in the inning.

The Mallards pushed two more across in the fifth on another RBI single from Bacon that scored LaPrise and on a sacrifice fly from catcher Jason Goldstein (Illinois). The Mallards added a couple more insurance runs in the eighth, when Stewart provided another sac fly that scored Goldstein and Weeks singled in Jeff Zahn (Indiana State).

The only run the Chinooks would push across off of Arenson came on the first pitch in the top of the second. Chinooks shortstop Sawyer Polen (Kent State) hit a towering home run to left on the first pitch he saw to lead off the inning. The Chinooks added a pair in the eighth to pull within four on a wild pitch from Charlie Naso (Illinois) and on a throwing error from Mallards shortstop Kyle Ruchim (Northwestern).

Arenson ended up allowing just one run (earned) on four hits in his 5.1 innings of work and improves to 2-0 on the year. Ben Neumann (Northern Illinois) relieved Arenson in the sixth and also pitched a scoreless seventh while Joe Claver (Illinois State) ran into trouble in the eighth. He walked two and hit a batter before Naso came in to finish the inning. Naso also pitched the ninth and struck out two batters.

LaPrise finished 3-for-5 on the night and is now hitting .411 with just one regular season game left. Weeks and Bacon combined to go 5-for-8 with five RBIs. Weeks is back in the Northwoods League lead in RBIs with his three-RBI performance and is currently two ahead of Willmar’s Marc Flores (Hawaii). Weeks now has 65 on the season.

Bouman ended up allowing seven runs on 10 hits in just 4.1 innings for the Chinooks and falls to 5-1 on the year.

The Mallards wrap up the regular season tomorrow against the Chinooks at 5:05 pm. Tomorrow will be the TDS and Budweiser Fan Appreciation Night. There will be a Garage Sale during the game and there will also be a Valpak Coupon Giveaway. The Custom Canines Service Dog Academy Community Connection Night will also take place.

The Madison Mallards are your Northwoods League South Division First Half Champions! Playoff tickets are on-sale now!

The Madison Mallards are part of the 16-team Northwoods League.  The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.  In 2013, the Northwoods League is celebrating its 20th season.