By: Dylan Lee – Public Relations
Madison, Wis. – The Madison Mallards will open the 2014 season with a doubleheader against the Kalamazoo Growlers today at Warner Park. Yesterdays home opener was postponed due to rain. Game one today is scheduled for 4:35 pm, with game two starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both games will be seven innings. The matchup starts a four game home-stand for the Mallards.
Starting in game one for the Mallards is pitcher Christian Taugner, a 6’2”, 190-pound righty from Brown University. The Roselle, Illinois native led the Bears with a 2.39 ERA, 49 strikeouts, and 52.2 innings pitched. He earned Ivy League Pitcher and Co-Rookie of the Week honors after limiting the South Carolina Gamecocks to just one run over seven innings in his collegiate debut.
The Growlers are scheduled to start southpaw Caleb Baragar for game one. Baragar pitched at Jackson Community College in Jackson, Michigan and is committed to play ball at Indiana University next season. The 6’4”, 205-pound hurler was 4-1 in nine appearances, carried a 5.24 ERA and struck out 50 batters in his 2014 season with the Jets.
In game two, the Mallards are slated to start righty Sterling Sharp. Sharp is a 6’4”, 170-pound freshman from Eastern Michigan University. He made 14 appearances for the Eagles, including seven starts and was 1-6 with a 4.59 ERA in his rookie season. Sharp is originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan and was drafted in the 30th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves.
Sharp will go against Growlers righty Nick Wernke. The 6’4”, 200-pound pitcher is from Oswego, Illinois and just finished his freshman year at West Virginia University. Wernke did not appear for the Mountaineers in the 2014 season.
Mallards single-game tickets are on-sale now! To purchase tickets log on to MallardsBaseball.com, call 608-246-4277 or stop by the Mallards ticket office today.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live and free of charge via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit MallardsBaseball.com.
