Madison, Wis. (July 9) – A.J. Bogucki (North Carolina) pocketed his third quality start of the summer, J.J. Gould (Jacksonville) produced his second home run in his last two games and field manager Donnie Scott’s lineup ignited for 15 hits as the Madison Mallards (6-2, 26-17) defeated the Kenosha Kingfish (8-2, 31-15) by a convincing 13-2 score Thursday night at the Duck Pond. With the Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison Big Win of the Night, the Mallards pulled to within one game of first place in the Northwoods League’s South Division to begin the second half of the 2015 season.
The Mallards wasted little time swinging their bats effectively in Thursday’s series opener, reaching base in six consecutive plate appearances in the top of the first en route to claiming a 4-0 lead at the end of one complete frame. Madison then proceeded to piece together a five-run, bottom-of-the-fourth inning against Kenosha’s pitching staff, a frame that saw Gould drive home a pair of runners with a ground-ball single to the right side of the infield. Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) then plated Logan Regnier (Central Michigan) via a sacrifice fly, running Madison’s lead to 9-0 after four.
Kenosha attempted to ignite its lineup against Bogucki in the road half of the sixth, plating a pair of runners courtesy of singles from Jeremy Vasquez and a reached-on-error by Alex Dunlap. But the Mallards were quick to respond, beginning with Gould’s second home run in as many days to lead off the bottom of the sixth and ending with Scott Tyler’s (Ball State) single to score Jonathan Quintana (Barry University) and Cameron Frost’s (Washington State) sacrifice fly-out to score Ramirez. By the end of the sixth inning, the Mallards held true to a commanding 12-3 advantage.
Tacking on an insurance run to its lead through Jason Goldstein’s (Illinois) double to the right-centerfield gap in the bottom of the eighth, the Mallards witnessed Grant Spranger (Southeastern CC) produce a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth against the Kingfish to end any hopes of a comeback. It was Bogucki’s strong effort – 6 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 2 K, 11 ground-ball outs – that put Spranger in a high-leverage situation late in the game, however, an impressive effort for which he received his second winning decision. Through six starting appearances, Bogucki’s ERA now stands at 3.19.
With their third consecutive victory in the books, the Mallards will turn their collective attention toward Friday’s road series finale with the Kingfish. First pitch for tomorrow’s contest is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Simmons Field in Kenosha, Wis. Follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards or tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison’s comprehensive play-by-play coverage for notes and updates throughout tomorrow’s contest.
The Mallards will return to the Duck Pond on Saturday, July 11 at 6:05 p.m. against the Battle Creek Bombers. Saturday will be Dane County Regional Airport Who Knew? Night featuring a celebrity appearance by Who Knew? host Michael Feldman, who will be available for fan autographs and pictures pre-game and will throw out a ceremonial first pitch. 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.
