In a tight, suspense-filled game against the Battle Creek Bombers (3-1, 23-16), the Madison Mallards (1-3, 20-19) closed out a 2-1 victory in the last game of the four-game road trip to Michigan.
The game was set up to be a pitcher’s duel. With Madison’s All-Star Simon Rosenblum-Larson (Harvard) on the mound to start, it was up to Battle Creek’s Andrew Click to match the Mallard's ace performance. The two starters did not disappoint. Rosenblum-Larson and Click fought it out over the first five innings, trading scoreless innings. Rosenblum-Larson struck out five Bombers in the first two innings. One of them was a dropped third strike to Bomber Alex Howard that got away from Madison’s catcher Maverick Handley (Stanford). Howard would eventually make it all the way to third base, but Rosenblum-Larson ended the Battle Creek scoring threat by striking out Justin Felix.
Battle Creek eventually broke the silence in the third inning with two singles to score the first run of the game. It would be the only run for Battle Creek. Rosenblum-Larson would go on to strike out seven in five innings, and allow only one run off three hits. The Ivy Leaguer’s Battle Creek counterpart on the mound, Andrew Click, posted impressive numbers himself, holding the Mallards scoreless through six innings.
The minute that Click left the game, the Mallards offense jumped on the Battle Creek bullpen. Maverick Handley lead off the seventh inning with a walk that was followed by a beautiful bunt from Brock Weimer (SIU-Edwardsville) to move Handley to third base. With Handley on third and Cole Daily (Notre Dame) on first, Zac Taylor (Illinois) notched his third of four hits on the day to the left side of the infield. A couple pitches later, Daily would score from third base on a wild pitch. Daily’s run would prove to be the go-ahead.
Over the last three innings, Dom Savino (Albany) dominated the Battle Creek order by striking out the last two Bombers to slam the door to end the ninth.
David Vinsky (Northwood University) made a strong showing in his Mallards debut tonight. Vinsky tallied a 2-4 effort at the plate and picked a couple tough balls in the dirt at first base. Madison will look to Vinsky for help at the plate, as the freshman hit .449 with 60 RBI, 109 hits, and 27 doubles this past spring. Vinsky recorded the most hits and doubles of any hitter in Division II baseball this season. He was also a finalist for the Tino Martinez Award, a player of the year accolade in DII.
Madison earned their first win of the second half of the season, and have earned a trip back to Madison. After the long road trip to western Michigan, the Mallards will play Fond du Lac (2-2, 18-22) tomorrow night at 4:05 PM back at Warner Park. Listen in to all the action live on 106.7 FM and 1670 AM The ZONE.
