Madison, Wis. (August 1) – Subsequent to their most potent offensive outburst of the summer Friday night at Joannes Stadium – 19 runs en route to a key divisional win over in Green Bay – the Madison Mallards (16-11, 36-26) will seek to sustain their late-season momentum on Saturday when they return to the Duck Pond for the opener of a two-game, home-and-away set with the Wisconsin Woodchucks (10-17, 22-40). Tonight’s 6:05 p.m. contest will be the first of five home contests for the Mallards over the next six days.

After concluding the month of July with a team earned run average of 4.82 across 28 games – 3.65 ERA for the season – field manager Donnie Scott and his coaching staff will entrust Andrew Beckwith (Coastal Carolina) to commence August on a high note tonight against the Woodchucks. The 6-foot-0 right-hander’s eighth start of the season comes on the heels of a quality start July 26 in Mequon, a game in which Beckwith ceded one run across six frames with a pair of strikeouts against the Chinooks. Overall, Beckwith sports a 2-2 record, 3.58 ERA and 20:6 K/BB ratio over 37.2 innings.

To counter Beckwith in the series opener, Woodchucks field manager Jordan Bischel will assign left-handed pitcher Jared Skolnicki (Kent State) his ninth starting gig of the 2015 season tonight against an upstart Mallards unit. Skolnicki, a 6-foot-2 southpaw originally from Pittsburgh, Penn., has performed admirably on the road in his first campaign in the Northwoods League, going 2-1 with a 2.91 ERA and .226 opponent batting average in four starts away from Athletic Park. Scott and the Mallards tagged Skolnicki with five runs June 22 at Warner Park en route to a decisive 5-0 victory.

• Playoff Positioning – As of Saturday morning, the Mallards find themselves in sole possession of second place in the Northwoods League’s second-half, South Division standings with a .593 winning percentage and second place in the overall season divisional standings .581 mark. If the season ended today, the Mallards would host the Green Bay Bullfrogs (15-14, 37-27) in a one-game playoff matchup at Warner Park to open postseason play.

Tonight’s contest will feature The Diamond Center Diamond Dig post-game, ice cream giveaway. For tickets to Saturday’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 for live notes and updates and be sure to tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison’s comprehensive coverage of all the action beginning at 5:45 p.m. CT.

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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.