Madison, Wis. (July 2) – Falling short of a comeback effort in Wednesday’s series-opening loss to the Kalamazoo Growlers (1-0, 9-25), field manager Donnie Scott and the Madison Mallards (0-1, 20-16) will look to right their ship with a victory in tonight’s series finale at the Duck Pond. Thursday will be Dashelitos Hot Sauce Appreciation Night and Charter Communications Sandlot Night at Warner Park, featuring a post-game showing of Sandlot. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Though Madison was out-hit 14-8 by Kalamazoo in Wednesday’s series opener, the Mallards received offensive production up and down their lineup. Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary’s College) blasted two home runs and accounted for a game-high five runs batted in. Cameron Frost (Washington State) cleared the fence with his fourth home run – which produced two runs – of the season, additionally, while Ro Coleman (Vanderbilt), Charlie Cody (Virginia) and Bryce Carter (Stanford) combined to go 2-for-12 with three walks drawn in their Mallards debuts at the Duck Pond.
Madison’s bats will look to give similar run support tonight for Dalton D’Spain (Texas A&M Corpus Christi), who will tab his sixth outing of the summer on the mound. D’Spain, a 6-foot-1 right-hander, enters tonight’s contest on the heels of a six-inning shutout start June 24 in Wisconsin Rapids in which he struck out nine, walked two and allowed just two hits. Overall, the San Antonio, Tex., native is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 30:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 10.1 K/9 ratio (best among qualified Mallards starting pitchers, minimum three games started) this season.
To counter, the Growlers will send left-handed pitcher Alec Byrd (Florida State) to the mound for his second start of the 2015 season. Byrd, a 6-foot-3 southpaw from Miami, Fla., received a no-decision for his debut appearance June 23 in Rochester after ceding two earned runs across four innings in which he whiffed five batters, walked one and allowed two hits. As a junior this spring, Byrd posted a 5-1 record and 4.53 ERA between the Seminoles rotation and bullpen while striking out 48, walking 15 and holding opponents to a .270 batting average.
- Triple-Crown Chase – Anthony Gonsolin’s scintillating performance Wednesday night not only earned him ‘Player of the Night’ honors among Northwoods League hitters, but it also vaulted him into legitimate contention for the league’s Triple-Crown. Through 117 at-bats, Gonsolin is tied for the league-lead in home runs (6), tied for third-best in runs batted in (23) and ranks 16th among his counterparts in batting average (.325).
- Strikeouts A’Plenty – Mallards reliever Scott Moss (Florida) whiffed four Growlers hitters across two innings of middle-relief from Madison’s bullpen last night, increasing his season total to 22 in just 14 innings (14.1 K/9). Moss, a 6-foot-5 southpaw whose fastball checks in at 89-92 MPH, now owns a 1.92 ERA this summer.
For tickets to tonight’s game, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit www.MallardsBaseball.com for more information. Unable to attend? Follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards or tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison for comprehensive play-by-play coverage.
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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.
