Madison, Wis. (August 3) – Notching their third consecutive victory Sunday night in Wausau to conclude a perfect weekend in which they out-scored their opponents 33-6, the Madison Mallards (18-11, 38-26) will look to continue their hot-swinging ways on Monday when they return to the Duck Pond for the opener of a two-game home set with the Alexandria Blue Anchors (16-15, 28-38). Tonight’s 7:05 p.m. contest will mark the beginning of the final week of the regular season for the Mallards, who hold a two-game lead of second place in the South Division’s second-half standings.

Last night, the Mallards completed a season sweep of their divisional rival at Athletic Park by an 8-2 mark through a combination of stellar pitching and key hits in opportune moments. Sterling Sharpe (Drury University) tabbed a winning decision in his first start of the summer for the Mallards staff, supplying five innings of hit-less ball to go with seven punch-outs. Cameron Frost (Washington State) provided his second home run since July 27 and plated a game-high three batters, while Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) went 1-for-5 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to six games.

Madison’s pitching staff, which boasts the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of any Northwoods League unit in 2015 (2.54), tonight will look to benefit from a third consecutive quality start from its rotation when Spencer Goebel (Spring Arbor Univ.) toes the rubber for his second outing of the summer. Goebel, a 6-foot-2 right-hander coming off his junior collegiate campaign, recorded a winning decision in his first start of the season on July 28 at Kalamazoo for allowing no runs across five innings against the Growlers. Through six total innings in 2015, Goebel has surrendered just two hits.

Goebel will have his work cut out for him against an upstart Alexandria lineup. The month of July saw the Blue Anchors hoard 22 home runs across 29 contests en route to a team slugging percentage of .414 during that span – up from just .365 in the month of June. Perhaps no Blue Anchors hitter has contributed more to Alexandria’s improved play in the second half than Trooper Reynolds (Dallas Baptist Univ.). A late addition to the Blue Anchors roster, Reynolds has managed a .411 batting average and 1.272 OPS with six home runs in 15 games (56 AB) for Alexandria’s offense.

• Playoff Positioning, Updated – Having secured three consecutive victories over the weekend, one of which came against a playoff-contending Green Bay squad on Friday, the Mallards find themselves with sole possession of second place in the South Division’s overall season standings. If the season ended today, the Mallards would host the Bullfrogs in a one-game playoff matchup next week to begin postseason competition.

Monday’s series opener will be Circus World night at the Duck Pond, featuring live circus entertainment for fans in attendance before, during and after the game. For tickets to tonight’s series opener, 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 and be sure to tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison’s comprehensive play-by-play coverage of all the action with the Blue Anchors beginning at 6:45 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.