Published On: June 11th, 2016

June11After dropping three of the previous four games they played heading into last night, the Mallards were looking for something to get them out of their slump. A five inning, rain-shortened win against one of the best teams in the league may have done the trick.

Madison beat Wisconsin Rapids 2-1 last evening, as the fifth inning was completed just minutes before lightning started to strike. The lightning passed after about two hours, but the downpour that occurred took too heavy of a toll on the field for the game to be resumed. It may have been just the stroke of luck the Mallards were trying to find.

Wins like that against a team as talented as Wisconsin Rapids won’t come regularly, meaning that the play of the Mallards has to improve if they hope to duke it out with the Rafters in their ensuing three matchups over the next five days.  The Mallards won the contest a night ago on two runs, two hits and three errors, all numbers they will need to improve on. It isn’t a matter of them struggling to bring runners home, but rather a matter of them struggling to get runners. Before their two-hit night, the Mallards hit safely five times against Lakeshore, none of which came in innings four through eight.

The bright spot is that the Mallards pitching looked strong last night with Colin Brockhouse (Ball State) pitching all five innings while allowing no earned runs. Frank German (North Florida) will look to build off of Brockhouse’s solid performance, as the 6’2” right-hander will get the call tonight. He’ll be ready to truly showcase his stuff, as his last start, also against the Rafters, was shortened by a rain delay. He allowed an earned run in 1.2 innings.

First pitch for tonight’s contest will be at 6:35 pm. The game will feature a balsa wood airplane giveaway and an appearance by Michael Feldman, sponsored by the Dane County Regional Airport. Stick around for post-game fireworks, presented by Hy-Vee. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting MallardsBaseball.com, calling the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277, or stopping in the ticket office at 2920 N Sherman Ave.

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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 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016, 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.MallardsBaseball.com

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