Madison, Wis. (July 2) – Opening their second-half schedule with a 12-8 loss Wednesday night, field manager Donnie Scott and the Madison Mallards (1-1, 21-16) rebounded to the tune of a 7-4 victory in Thursday’s series finale against the Kalamazoo Growlers (1-1, 9-26) at the Duck Pond. The Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison Big Win of the Night saw the Mallards lineup go 12-for-35 (.343) at the dish and nab four stolen bases all while limiting Kalamazoo to a 6-for-32 (.188) showing.
After a faced-past first inning with no runs credited to either unit, the Growlers tagged Mallards starting pitcher Dalton D’Spain (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) with a pair of earned runs in the road half of the second. Madison’s bats were quick to respond, however. Tony Butler (Madison College) broke open the game for Madison, lacing a double down the right field line to score Charlie Cody (Virginia) and Scott Tyler (Ball State). Logan Regnier (Central Michigan) then plated Butler via a ground-out to second base, giving Madison a 4-2 lead after two complete innings.
Kalamazoo responded with two more runs in the top half of the third frame, evening the score at 4-4 heading into the bottom half of the inning. And while the Mallards were unable to plate a run in either the third or fourth frames in response, Jason Goldstein’s (Illinois) solo home run in lifted the Mallards to a 5-4 lead. Two innings later, Butler came through with another 2 RBI single, scoring Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) and Cody. With a 7-4 lead, Vince Arobio (Pacific) pitched the final 1.1 innings on the mound for Madison, striking out one en route to nailing down his third save.
“He runs the show out there and that’s the kind of guy I like,” said Scott of Goldstein, who with his 2-for-5 batting line on Thursday lifted his season slugging percentage to .548 (31 AB). “Sometimes people don’t understand it, but that’s his job out there: He’s the quarterback of the field, and he does an outstanding job of it…He (Butler) is getting more aggressive every day (at the plate) and more confident out there. He had a few great plays at short tonight, too.”
With the series split behind them, the Mallards will pursue their first winning streak of the second half with a victory over the Wisconsin Woodchucks (2-0, 14-23) on Friday. First pitch for tomorrow’s contest at Warner Park is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Friday will feature Northside Independence Day Fireworks after the game and entertainment by the Kissers and the Madison Music Foundry. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit www.MallardsBaseball.com for more information.
###
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.
