The Madison Mallards (3-4, 22-20) offense erupted late tonight in a 13-4 rout of the Green Bay Bullfrogs (1-6, 18-29) at Johannes Stadium.
The first five innings of tonight’s ballgame closely resembled the last few weeks for the Mallards. Madison left runners in scoring position a couple times in the first few innings and couldn’t seem to break through with timely hitting. All of that changed in the sixth inning when Zac Taylor (Illinois) decided to switch things up and lay down a perfect bunt down the third base line for a base hit to lead off the inning. Later in the sixth, a sac-fly from Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. (California) and a base hit from Maverick Handley (Stanford) knocked in the first two runs for Madison to knot the game at two.
Another sac-fly from Doran Turchin (Illinois) in the top of the seventh inning gave the Mallards the 3-2 lead. Mitchell Jr. and Turchin each recorded an RBI today. Mallards RBI-twins are tied for fourth in the league with 36 RBI each.
Green Bay reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the seventh, but not for long. Madison hit back in the eighth and ninth with three and seven runs respectively. The Mallards feasted off the Bullfrogs bullpen and hit balls all over the field. In the top of the ninth, with the bases loaded, Taylor launched a grand slam over the left field wall to lengthen the lead for the Mallards.
Taylor recorded two hits on the day, a bunt and a grand slam, but peppered the ball around the field in every at-bat. David Vinsky (Northwood) tallied a 3-4 effort at the plate in his fourth game with the Mallards. Sam Armstrong (Jacksonville) substituted late in the game into the designated hitter spot and immediately made an impact. Armstrong crushed the second pitch he saw down the right field line to score two Mallards. Madison would go on to record 12 hits as a team on the night, scoring runs in each of the last four innings.
Nate Brown (Florida) gave Madison a strong start on the mound. Through five innings, Brown overpowered the Green Bay lineup. He allowed only two runs and struck out nine. The two runs came off of a home run by Alonzo Jones. Matt McCarty (Louisville), Andrew Buckley (California), and Dom Savino (Albany) combined out of the bullpen to hold Green Bay to two runs on four hits through the last four innings.
The Mallards were perfect in the field aside from a Cade Bunnell (Indiana) error at second. Tonight was a team effort from the Mallards. The offense broke through late in the game and Madison got a strong effort on the mound from the pitching staff. The Mallards are now 3-4 in the second half of the regular season and 22-20 overall.
Madison and Green Bay will meet again tomorrow for the second game of the series and the second of the road trip. Scheduled to start for the Mallards is right-handed pitcher, Heath Renz (UW-Whitewater). Catch all the action live at 7:05 PM CST on 106.7 FM and 1670 AM The ZONE.
