Published On: June 17th, 2016

June16Madison, WI – June 16, 2016. The Madison Mallards (11-6) bested the Battle Creek Bombers (9-8) by a score of 5-4 to regain the South division lead in Thursday night’s matchup. Madison recorded ten hits and got a strong performance from the bullpen in the victory.

The Mallards were able to jump to an early 2-0 lead after a Lucas Halstead (Pacific) infield single brought home a runner, followed by a Sam Armstrong groundout that tacked on another.

 

Colin Brockhouse (Ball State) pitched well early on in the contest despite five walks. He would escape the second inning unscathed after walking the bases loaded, and only surrendered one hit through the first four innings. A Cody Sporrer (UC-Riverside) solo home run in the fifth would change all of that. His shot opened up a four-run inning for Battle Creek, pushing them out to a 4-2 lead. Chase Hoag (Fresno State) came in to replace Brockhouse, recording the final two outs in the inning.

With the Mallards batting in the bottom of the fifth, Nico Hoerner (Stanford) launched a three-run moonshot over the left field fence that gave the Mallards a 5-4 lead. The dinger was Hoerner’s second of 2016, and third hit of the night. He also also scored twice in the contest.

“To hit a home run in a meaningful situation is always nice,” said Hoerner. “And in front of 6,000 fans too. It was awesome.”

The bullpen gave a strong performance in front of the home crowd, starting with Hoag, who pitched 1.2 scoreless frames before giving way to Luke Shilling (Illinois). Shilling would pitch an inning himself, allowing one hit and striking out a batter. Troy Bacon (Santa Fe College) relieved Shilling after a leadoff single to start the 8th, eventually earning the two-inning save. Hoag was credited with the win.

Zach Jarrett (UNC-Charlotte) made the catch of the night in right field, tracking down a Daniel Jipping (Central Michigan) fly ball to right field. The catch robbed the Northwoods League RBI leader of an extra-base hit.

Max Ritchie (Brown) took the loss for the Bombers in the matchup, as the right-hander gave up five earned on ten hits in 5.1 innings of work. He didn’t walk a batter while recording two strikeouts.

The Mallards return to the Duck Pond tomorrow, June 17th at 7:05 pm as they take on the Battle Creek Bombers for the final game of the series.  The game will feature Whiplash the Dog Riding Cowboy Monkey. Tomorrow is also the Madison Knitters’ Guild Stitch ‘n Pitch Night. 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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