Madison, Wis. (June 15) – Fueled by timely hitting and quality pitching, the Madison Mallards (10-10) defeated the Battle Creek Bombers (8-12) by a final score of 6-1 in eight innings Monday night at C.O. Brown Stadium. With the Ho-Chunk Gaming Big Win of the Night, the Mallards ended their brief two-game losing skid and pulled their winning percentage back to within .500 this season.
Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary’s College) came through with another productive night for Madison, going 3-for-4 with a double, run scored and run batted in. Logan Regnier (Central Michigan) manufactured two hits and two runs scored from the top of the Mallards lineup in the victory, while J.J. Gould (Jacksonville) drove in a game-high two runs in route to a 2-for-5 output at the dish. Overall, the Mallards went 9-for-33 (.273) against Battle Creek pitching in the win.
Nate Hoffmann (Middle Tennessee State) crafted his second quality start of the summer Monday evening, allowing one earned run on six hits, two walks and two strikeouts across five strong innings. Corbin Olmstead (North Florida), who fanned seven batters over four frames out of Madison’s bullpen last Friday against Lakeshore, turned in another impressive appearance out of the mound, logging three innings in which he allowed no runs with three strikeouts.
The Mallards received the fast start they were looking for Monday night, plating two runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Mikey Diekroeger’s (Stanford) RBI groundout to second base allowed for Regnier to touch home, after which Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) drove home Gonsolin on an RBI single to give Madison a 2-0 lead after one half frame. Battle Creek responded with a run in the bottom of the second inning, though that was all its lineup would muster in the loss.
Hoffmann settled in nicely soon after, conceding just two hits between the third, fourth and fifth innings before giving way to Olmstead in the bottom of the sixth. Madison’s offense provided insurance runs in the top of the seventh, a frame that saw Gould tally both of his runs batted in on a single. Gonsolin followed with another RBI single, and in the top of the eighth, Tony Butler (Madison College) drove home Brian Rodemoyer (Illinois State) on a fielder’s choice ground out. After 30 minutes of rain delay, the game was called with a final score of 6-1 after eight complete innings.
With their victory in the rear view mirror, the Mallards will turn their attention toward the finale of the two-game series with Battle Creek, scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Follow the Mallards on Twitter @MadisonMallards for updates during tomorrow’s game and tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison for complete play-by-play coverage.
The Mallards will return home on Friday, June 19 against the Kenosha Kingfish. Next Friday will be Valpak Great Outdoors Night at the Duck Pond, featuring a Pepsi Outdoorsman Maynard Bobblehead Giveaway presented by WKOW TV. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit MallardsBaseball.com.
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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.
