The Madison Mallards (0-3, 19-19) fell 3-0 in a quick contest against the Battle Creek Bombers (3-0, 23-15) on Friday night as the Bombers pitching staff completely shut down the Mallards offense.
Battle Creek jumped on top of Madison early with two runs off of four singles in the first inning. Madison starter Tristen Bayless (Texas A&M) held Battle Creek in check in the second inning, but then would give up another run in the third off of a Tom Stoffel single to left field.
After a couple hitless innings, it seemed as if the Mallards were just biding their time to strike. Battle Creek starter Jared Middleton never gave Madison the chance. Through seven innings on the mound, Middleton held the Mallards scoreless and only allowed four Mallards on base. In the seventh inning after a leadoff walk from Madison’s Maverick Handley (Stanford), Sam Armstrong grounded a ball hard in the hole between first and second base. Battle Creek second basemen Nic Vasic dove towards first base and stopped the ball but couldn’t make a play on Armstrong. The play was initially ruled as a hit on the scoreboard but would later be changed to an error. That was the closest that the Mallards would come to recording a hit. Later in the inning, both Handley and Armstrong would be stranded on base.
Despite being no-hit by the Battle Creek pitching staff, Madison’s hurlers looked solid. Starter Tristen Bayless gave up three runs in four innings and displayed mental toughness by bouncing back after giving up a few bloop singles in the first inning. New Mallard Logan Wonn (Jacksonville) struck out four through three innings and worked out of trouble with runners in scoring position twice. In the seventh inning, after giving up a leadoff single, Wonn fanned the middle of the Battle Creek lineup with three consecutive strikeouts.
The Mallards will have a chance at redemption tomorrow against Battle Creek at C.O. Brown Stadium. Game two of the series, and the last of the Michigan road trip, will start at 6:05 PM CST. Listen to all the action live on 106.7 FM and 1670 AM The ZONE.
