After falling to the Rockford Rivets (6-3, 23-22) by a score of 7-3 in Thursday night’s game, the Mallards (5-4, 28-17) will travel to Rockford for the second game of a two-game set with the Rivets on Friday evening. Madison will look to avoid their first two-game losing streak of the second half.
Luke Matheny (Oklahoma State) will get the starting nod for the first time this summer after having made five appearances out of the bullpen. The right-hander has yet to earn a decision in 2016, posting a 1.80 ERA with four strikeouts in ten innings of work. Matheny has made two appearances after missing a month with an injury, allowing only two base runners in three innings. The product of St. Louis took a redshirt during his freshman year with the Cowboys.
Rockford will turn to Drake Robinson (Iowa) in the contest, as the right-hander has thrown more innings (40) than anyone else on the Rivets roster this summer. Robinson is 4-2 with a 3.60 ERA, having struck out 31 batters in his 40 frames. This will be Robinson’s first start against Madison this year.
Nate Palace (Valparaiso) enters Friday’s contest with a seven-game hitting streak on the line, as the first baseman has been on a tear as of late. Palace is hitting .375 over his past ten games, including two home runs, six runs scored and six runs batted in.
The Mallards will return to the Duck Pond Sunday, July 17th, to take on the Kenosha Kingfish at 4:05 pm. The contest will feature a Festival Foods Dancing Rick bobblehead giveaway. It will also be Public Safety Appreciation Night and Rayovac 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, 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.
