The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (9-14) got the early jump on the Madison Mallards (10-12) and didn’t look back in what turned out to be an 11-7 win for the Dock Spiders.
Fond du Lac exploded out of the gate with a six run first inning. Seven hits from the Fond du Lac lineup forced Madison starter Matt McCarty (Louisville) out of the game with only one out in the top of the first. Fond du Lac mashed their only three extra base hits of the game in the first inning. The Dock Spider bats stayed hot until the third inning as they had 15 hits and tallied four more runs.
The heart of the Mallards lineup was kept in check today by the Dock Spider pitching staff. Cole Daily (Notre Dame) resurrected his bat and recorded a 3-4 effort, however the Mallards behind Daily could not move him around the bases. Three of Madison’s best hitters- Cade Bunnell (Indiana), Doran Turchin (Illinois), and Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. (California) could only muster up two base hits between themselves. Mitchell Jr. was 0-4 at the plate, ending his 12 game hitting streak. Thomas Smart (Oakton) continued to pound at the plate by going 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Smart has now hit in nine consecutive contests.
Despite Fond du Lac owning a commanding lead for the entire game, there were some positive takeaways for the Mallards. Leadoff man, Cole Daily exhibited outstanding personal effort in sprinting all the way from second to home on a wild pitch. The shortstop found his bat again at the plate today after going 1-11 in two games against Rockford yesterday.
The bullpen for Madison gave a strong showing today in a game where the starting pitcher didn’t make it out of the first inning. Sam Cottingham-Beard (Western Illinois) ran into some trouble in the third inning, but Will Anderson (Northern Illinois) threw four and two-thirds innings of one run baseball.
The Mallards did manage to tally some runs in the top of the ninth. The Dock Spiders booted the ball around the infield, allowing Madison to put up four, before finally being put to rest for their 12th loss of the season. The Mallards will be in action tomorrow as they seek to even the count with the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders at 7:05 PM at the Duck Pond. Catch all the action live on 106.7 FM 1670 AM The ZONE.
