By: Max Baker
With a dominant pitching performance from Mitchell Kilkenny (Texas A&M) the Madison Mallards (18-10) edged the Lakeshore Chinooks (11-18) on Tuesday night as they completed the sweep with a 7-5 victory.
Madison found themselves behind early thanks to a second inning run from the Chinooks. It was the first time in four games that the Mallards had failed to score first. The Chinooks lead wouldn’t last for long though, as the Mallards offense came alive in the top of the third inning.
Josh Stowers (Louisville) started the inning off with a walk, and Joe Stefanki (San Jose St.) quickly followed it with a single of his own. Stowers was able to showcase his speed one batter later, as he hustled all the way from second to score on a Nico Hoerner (Stanford) RBI single. A few batters later, Zach Jarrett (UNC-Charlotte) would push his hitting streak to ten games with a double off the left field wall, as Stefanki and Hoerner both came in to score. With the double, Jarrett pushed his streak to four straight games with an extra base hit.
Nick Roark (Oral Roberts) would later add an RBI single in the frame, as the Mallards capped off the inning with their fifth run to take a 5-1 lead.
The lead would prove to be plenty for Kilkenny, who picked up right where he left off in his second start. After allowing two hits in the second inning, Kilkenny would allow only one more hit the rest of the night. Kilkenny managed to throw six innings, allowing just three total hits with one strikeout.
The Mallards would tack on a few more runs throughout the game, and took a 7-1 lead into the ninth inning at Kapco Park. Lakeshore continued to fight until the very end, as they were able to score four ninth inning runs to cut the Mallards lead to 7-5. Logan Sherer (UNC-Charlotte) was able to come onto the mound to secure the win for the Mallards, as he induced a game ending pop out to right fielder Jarrett to halt the Chinooks rally.
With the victory, the Mallards pushed their road record to an outstanding 12-3 on the season. They won their fourth straight game overall, as they remain right in the thick of the south division race with the first half winding down.
Madison will play in a home & home double header tomorrow against the Rockford Rivets. The first game will take place in Rockford, and first pitch is scheduled for 11 AM. Both teams then will return home to the duckpond, as game two of the double header will take place at 7:05. The theme for the game will be 80’s Night, with a tribute to Prince. It will also be Mullet Night at Warner Park, where fans can earn one dollar off of a hot dog for every inch of their authentic mullet. Do the math and we’ll pay you to eat a hot dog! 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, 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 portal. For more information, visit www.mallardsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Mallards as your favorite team.
