Kalamazoo, MI – August 6, 2016. The Madison Mallards (18-11, 41-24) pushed their winning streak to six games on Saturday night with a 10-6 victory over the Kalamazoo Growlers (11-18, 31-34) at Homer Stryker Field.
It didn’t take long for the offense to come alive for the Mallards, as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first. With Nelson Maldonado (Florida) on base, Zach Jarrett (UNC-Charlotte) smashed a double into left-center field as he tallied his 49th RBI of the season. With Jarrett on second, Cameron Frost (Washington State) dropped a 0-2 pitch into left field to keep the inning going as Jarrett hustled around from second to score on the hit.
The inning wasn’t finished, as Josh Stowers (Louisville) came to the plate with two outs. Stowers crushed his third home run of the season on the first pitch as he saw, as the Mallards opened up a five run lead before Kalamazoo even got a chance to bat.
After the Growlers got a run back in the bottom of the first, the Mallards offense would continue to pour it on in the second frame. The Mallards loaded the bases with nobody out as Jarrett came to the plate for the second time in the game. He would single into left field as Cam Comer (Virginia) scored after leading the inning off with a single. The Mallards would tack on two more in the inning, as they opened up an 8-1 lead in just the second inning.
After Alex Lyons (Purdue) was pulled after three innings of work, Kevin Berge (St. John Fisher) came out of the bullpen for the Mallards. Berge would throw two straight scoreless innings in relief, before being tagged for three runs in his third inning of work.
With the Growlers having cut the Mallards lead to 9-6, the Mallards turned the ball over to Luke Shilling (Illinois) in the seventh. Shilling was sensational on the mound for the Mallards, as he struck out the first three batters he faced with his fastball reaching 96 MPH on several different occasions.
The Mallards would tack on their tenth run in the top of the eighth inning thanks to a Nelson Maldonado RBI, as Shilling continued to cruise on the mound. Shilling set the side down again in order in the eighth and ninth innings, as he picked up his first save of the season. Shilling recorded six strikeouts in his brief three innings of work.
The Mallards will be back in action on Sunday afternoon as they take on the Kalamazoo Growlers at Homer Stryker Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 pm CST.
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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.
