Published On: July 5th, 2015

7-5 pre game CROPPEDMadison, Wis. (July 5) – Nate Hoffmann (Middle Tennessee State) and the Madison Mallards (3-0, 23-15) will chase their fourth consecutive victory to open the second half of their 2015 schedule when they travel to Alexandria, Minn., on Sunday for the first tilt of a two-game road series with the Blue Anchors (2-2, 14-25). First pitch for tonight’s contest at Knute Nelson Stadium is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT. Play-by-play coverage will be provided by 100.5 FM ESPN Madison.

Last night, the Mallards used a pair of home runs from designated hitter Collin Theroux (San Joaquin Delta CC) and another quality start from starting pitcher Matt Bower (Washington State) to put the finishing touches on a home-and-away sweep of the Wisconsin Woodchucks (2-2, 14-25) at Athletic Park. The victory, in conjunction with Kenosha’s 13-10 loss in La Crosse, was enough to lift Madison into sole possession of first place in the South Division entering tonight.

Sunday evening will mark the sixth starting appearance of the season for Hoffmann, who enters tonight’s contest with a 3-1 record, 2.25 ERA and 17:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio across his first five games (24 IP). Perhaps no pitcher in the South Division has been proved more consistent than the 6-foot-2 right-hander this summer, having tallied four quality starts and relinquished more than one earned run in just one of his five outings. Opponents have hit .189 against him.

  • Heating Up in July – With Collin Theroux and Anthony Gonsolin each tabbing multi-home-run efforts in the second half of the season, the Mallards have the cleared the fence seven times in the month of July as a unit, raising their slugging percentage to .456 so far this month (highest among Northwoods League teams). The Mallards have also nabbed 12 (of 13 possible) stolen bases with an impressive walk-to-strikeout ratio of 25:31.

The Mallards will return to the Duck Pond on Thursday, July 9 at 7:05 p.m. against the Kenosha Kingfish. Thursday’s game will feature a Motorcycle Maynard Bobblehead Giveaway presented by WKOW-TV at the front gates of the stadium while supplies last and a pre-game skydiving and tandem skydive giveaway presented by Great Lakes Skydiving. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit www.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.

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