Madison, Wis. (July 14) – After splitting a day-night twin-bill with the La Crosse Loggers (8-7, 27-22) on Monday at Warner Park, field manager Donnie Scott and the Madison Mallards (8-4, 28-20) on Tuesday will travel northbound to Witter Field for a key series with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (6-5, 21-22). Tonight’s contest, scheduled for 7:05 p.m., will serve as the opener for a brief two-game road set between Tuesday and Wednesday for the Mallards in Wisconsin Rapids.
Dalton D’Spain (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) will receive his eighth starting appearance of the summer for Madison in tonight’s series opener. The 6-foot-1 right-hander enters this evening on the heels of his third consecutive winning decision on the mound July 8 at Willmar, surrendering just one run across five innings in which he whiffed four Singers batters. Overall, D’Spain is 5-1 with a 3.22 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 36:18 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 36.1 frames.
To counter, the Rafters will call upon right-handed pitcher Jay Peters (UW-Milwaukee) to make his third start of the summer. The 6-foot-4 native of Randolph, Wis., made his 2015 debut against the Mallards back on June 28, allowing two runs across five innings in which he fanned six Madison hitters en route to a losing decision. Overall, Peters brings to tonight’s contest a 1-1 record, 2.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 16:2 over 11 innings of work.
The Mallards will return to the Duck Pond on Thursday, July 16 against the Lakeshore Chinooks. Thursday will be Waterpark Night with a Kalahari Resort Indoor Theme Park Pass Giveaway to the first 500 fans. There will also be a UW-Health Sports Medicine Developing Healthy Off-Speed Pitching Mechanics Clinic at Warner Park from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. for children 12-16 years old for $40. For tickets to Thursday’s game, 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.
