Madison, Wis. (July 7) – Ignited by a pair of home runs from Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary’s College), Ro Coleman’s (Vanderbilt) first multi-hit effort and a stellar rebound performance on the mound from Westin Wuethrich (Madison College), the Madison Mallards (4-2, 24-17) claimed a decisive 8-2 victory Tuesday night to open up their two-game road series with the Willmar Stingers (4-3, 27-14) at Bill Taunton Stadium. The Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison Big Win of the Night paved the way for Madison to obtain sole possession of second place in the South Division to start the second half of the season.
Madison wasted little time swinging the lumber effectively Tuesday evening thanks to Gonsolin’s home run in the top of the first inning, giving his club an early 1-0 advantage. The Stingers responded in the home half of the second, witnessing Lucas Tancas reach base and drive in a run on a fielding error by shortstop Tony Butler (Madison College). Wuethrich settled after allowing his first run to Willmar, however, proceeding to blank the Stingers over the following three frames before exiting with just one unearned run allowed across five strong frames in which he struck out four and walked one.
Prior to Wuethrich exiting the contest, however, the Mallards put him in position to receive a winning decision with a four-run, top-of-the-fifth inning against a stingy Willmar pitching staff. The pivotal frame began with Gonsolin driving home Coleman and Charlie Cody (Virginia) on a run-producing single, followed shortly thereafter by Logan Regnier (Central Michigan) scoring on a wild pitch. Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) came through with an RBI-single of his own to score Gonsolin later in the frame, which concluded with the Mallards holding true to a commanding 5-1 advantage.
After neither team managing a run in the sixth or seventh innings, Coleman added insurance to Madison’s lead with an RBI-double to the left-field gap to score Jason Goldstein (Illinois). Then, as Madison’s leadoff hitter to begin the road half of the ninth, Gonsolin produced his second home run of the night, one that was duplicated by Ramirez two batters later. With Hever Bueno (Arizona State) on the mound in relief of Wuethrich, Willmar mustered up just one run between the eighth and ninth innings before watching Sean Beesly go down swinging for the final out of the contest.
With their impressive victory in the books, field manager Donnie Scott and the Mallards will turn their attention toward Wednesday’s series finale with the Stingers, which is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Bill Taunton Stadium. Follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards or tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison for live play-by-play coverage.
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.
