Madison, Wis. (June 29) — Despite tallying five runs between the eighth and ninth innings in game one of their double-header at Copeland Park, the Madison Mallards (20-15) eventually found themselves on the short end of a 6-5 final score against the La Crosse Loggers (19-15) Monday afternoon in La Crosse, Wis. The losing effort dropped Madison to 1.5 games out of first place in the Northwoods League's South Division heading into game two, which will be the final contest for the Mallards in the first half of the 2015 season.
The Loggers wasted little time jumping on Mallards starting pitcher Hever Bueno (Arizona State), plating a run in the home half of the first frame courtesy of a solo home run from Jordan Zimmerman's (Mesa CC), his fourth of the summer. La Crosse exploded for five hits and three runs in the bottom of the third against Bueno, who then exited after completing three frames in which he allowed four earned runs on seven hits and three strikeouts.
Entering the contest with Madison facing an uphill climb, Logan Browning (Florida) ceded one earned run across two innings of work in his Mallards debut out of the bullpen. Nick Gruener (Harvard), who relieved Browning to begin the home half of the sixth, proceeded to allow another earned run to La Crosse across the sixth and seventh innings, combined, which set the Mallards lineup up for an opportunity to manufacture a comeback effort late in game one of the twin-bill.
Cameron Frost (Washington State) provided the spark Madison was looking for in the top of the eighth, depositing a three-run home run over the fence to trim La Crosse's lead to 6-3. After a Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) walk, Collin Theroux (San Joaquin Delta CC) came through with an RBI double to center-field, narrowing the Mallards deficit to 6-4. Jonathan Quintana (Barry University) then stepped to the plate with Theroux at second and Chris Tschida (Westerin Illinois) at first, but fouled out to first base to cease the rally.
After Josh Pierce (Central Michigan) pitched a scoreless bottom-of-the-eighth in relief for the Mallards, the top of the ninth saw Jake Roberts (Yakima Valley CC) lead off with a double left field and Jed Sprague (Pacific) draw a pinch-hit walk. Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary's College) advanced Roberts to third via a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single from Frost to plate Roberts and lessen the deficit to 6-5. But after Ramirez reached via a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners, J.J. Gould's ground-out to first ended any chance of a comeback.
With the loss in the rear-view mirror, the Mallards will look to rebound with a victory in game two of Monday's double-dip at Copeland Park, which is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Westin Wuethrich (Madison College), who enters today having allowed just one earned run across his last 11 innings, will get the nod for Madison in game two. For updates, follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards and tune into play-by-play covereage courtesy of 100.5 ESPN Madison throughout tonight's finale.
###
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.
