Kenosha, WI- August 3, 2016.  The Madison Mallards (15-11, 38-24) earned a series sweep over the Kenosha Kingfish (6-20, 22-40) on Wednesday night with a 9-7 come-from-behind victory.

 

 

 

With a perfect record against Kenosha heading into Wednesday night’s contest, the Mallards jumped out to an early lead in the second inning. Cameron Frost (Washington St.) led the inning off with a double into right center field. After Frost advanced to third thanks to a Kingfish error, Nate Palace (Valparaiso) stepped up to the plate and put the Mallards in front. Palace reached across the plate and slapped a single into left field to plate Frost from third.

The Kingfish would tie the game with a run of their own off Mallards starter Luke Matheny (Oklahoma St.). Matheny showed complete control of his fastball from the start, as the right-hander was able to consistently pound the strke zone to keep the Kingfish guessing at the plate. Matheny’s final line would finish with four innings of three hit baseball, striking out three while allowing just one earned run.

Trailing 5-1 heading into the sixth, the Mallards continued to put the pressure on the Kingfish and let them know that they weren’t going to go down without a fight. Zach Jarrett (UNC-Charlotte) led the inning off with a walk, and would advance to third thanks to a Frost single coupled with an error by the Kingfish left fielder. Josh Stowers (Louisville) would tally an RBI for the Mallards with a sacrifice fly to left field, as he reached down and lifted a low fastball into left field that was deep enough to send Jarrett home from third.

Madison would trail by five entering the top of the eighth inning, but the game was far from over. After Stowers singled with one out to give the Mallards their first base runner of the inning, Palace would draw a walk as the rally was on. Noah Cummings (Oral Roberts) would come into the game as a pinch-hitter, and brought in the Mallards first run of the inning with an RBI single over the head of Kingfish third basemen Marty Bechina (Michigan St.) to cut the Kenosha lead to 7-3. After an RBI on a fielder’s choice from Nico Hoerner (Stanford) , Matt McCann (Fairleigh Dickinson) delivered a timely two-out single up the middle to score Cummings, as the Mallards suddenly trailed by just two.

Nelson Maldonado (Florida) would come to the plate and deliver a game-tying triple to right center field, as McCann and Jesse Medrano (Fresno St.) came in to score to tie the score at seven. Medrano was entered into the game as a pinch runner for Hoerner.

With the Kingfish on the ropes after the five run surge, Zach Jarrett would deliver the knock out blow with his go-ahead RBI single into right field. After working the count full, Jarrett punched a 3-2 fastball just out of the reach of Kingfish first basemen Pat McInerney (Illinois) as the Mallards took their first lead since the second inning.

After another insurance run thanks to Stowers, the Mallards would turn the ball over to their all-star closer Troy Bacon to preserve the lead. Bacon worked a 1-2-3 eighth thanks to an inning ending strikeout. After allowing a one out walk in the ninth, Bacon induced a game ending double play as the Mallards stormed the field in elation after their late comeback.

The Mallards will return home to the Duck Pond Thursday night as they play host to the Kenosha Kingfish at 7:05 PM.  The game will feature The Shoe Box Gary “Big Dog” Breneman bobblehead giveaway. It will also be Zimbrick Honda & Agrace HospiceCare Win the Civic Raffle.

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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.