Madison, Wis. – The finale of a two-game series between the Madison Mallards (7-3) and Willmar Stingers (5-4) to open the weekend will take place on Saturday, with first-pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. from Warner Park. Tonight will be Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board Dairy Night at the stadium, featuring post-game fireworks presented by Pepsi.

Last night, the Mallards fell victim to a 7-3 loss against Willmar, marking the first time Madison has dropped consecutive games. Cameron Frost (Washington State) led Madison’s offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and run batted in, while Andrew Beckwith (Coastal Carolina) blanked the Stingers across two innings of relief in his green-and-yellow debut.

Mallards field manager Donnie Scott will call upon right-handed pitcher Dalton D’Spain (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) to start tonight’s series finale against their North-Division foe. The 6-foot-1 San Antonio, Tex., native is 1-0 with an earned run average of 1.17 in two games (7.1 IP), during which he has whiffed 11 batters. D’Spain’s sophomore collegiate campaign concluded with a 3.71 ERA and strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio of 7.43 over 13 games (four starts).

“He fills up the strike zone and he’s got good stuff,” Scott said of D’Spain, whose 11 strikeouts rank second-most of any pitcher on Madison’s staff. “We like him a lot. They’ve (Willmar) got a pretty good hitting club over there and they’re aggressive. So it’s going to be important for him to get ahead early in the count and go right after them.”

To counter, the Stingers tonight will task left-handed pitcher Bradley Bailey (North Alabama) with his second starting appearance of the summer. Originally from Haleyville, Ala., Bailey received a losing decision in his first start June 1 at Mankato, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits, no walks and one strikeout across four innings. This past spring, the 6-foot-1 southpaw conceded 12 earned runs over seven bullpen outings (9.2 IP). Opponents hit .464 against him.

• Quintana Keeps his Streak – Mallards third baseman/left-fielder Jonathan Quintana (Barry University) entered Friday having reached base safely in each of his first six games. After going 1-for-3 and reaching base via hit-by-pitch in the series opener, he extended his streak to seven. Quintana’s on-base percentage of .531 ranks third-best among qualified Northwoods League hitters (min. 2.7 plate appearances per game) entering today.
• Saturday’s Roster Moves – The Mallards waived right-handed pitcher Tyler Frohwirth (Minnesota State) and Fred Manke (Minnesota) following last night’s contest, and have activated right-handed pitchers Hever Bueno (Arizona State) and Jesse Kay (California-Berkeley). Bueno struck out 16 batters over 16.0 innings this spring for the Sun Devils, while Kay held opponents to a .241 average over 11 relief appearances with the Golden Bears.

Following tonight’s home finale against Willmar, the Mallards will return home on Tuesday, June 9 against the Green Bay Bullfrogs (6:35 p.m. start time). Tuesday night will feature The Human Cannonball presented by Endres Manufacturing. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit MallardsBaseball.com for more information.

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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 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.MallardsBaseball.com