The Madison Mallards (2-3) dropped a tight ballgame 10-6 Saturday night to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (4-1)  by virtue of one difficult inning where eleven opposing batters came to the plate and seven scored.

The Mallards jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before a one hour ten minute rain delay in the bottom of the second inning.  Madison started the scoring in the top of the first on a long double to right field against a brisk wind by Jake Randa (Northwest Florida State), which plated Garrett Kueber (Austin Peay), who reached base on an error.  Lead off singles in the second by Drew Ober (UNC Charlotte) and Nick Schrader (UW Whitewater) produced the 3-0 lead after Kueber reached base again on a ground ball.  After the rain intermission, the Dock Spiders tied the score 3-3 in the bottom of the second.

The Mallards added two runs in the fifth and one in the top of the seventh on the strength of another Randa blast to the track in left centerfield for a sacrifice fly and they led 6-3 after six and a half innings. New addition Seth Leland (Illinois), who came In after the rain delay, held the Dock Spiders in check with seven strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.

Turning Point

The game changed in the bottom of the seventh.  Fond du Lac scored seven runs on just two hits, and was aided by two ground balls which got stuck in the lush, wet infield.  After 11 men came to the plate and the inning finished, the Dock Spiders held a 10-6 lead which propelled them to victory.

Top Mallards

• Hunter Hisky (Southwest Baptist) caught his third attempted base thief with a rocket throw down to second base in the third inning
• Seth Leland (Illinois) displayed a devastating drop off the table breaking ball which netted seven strikeouts
• Nick Schrader went three for four and scored one run

Next Up

The Mallards return home to face off again against the Dock Spiders Sunday afternoon at 1:05 PM at the Duck Pond. This game will feature the first ever Valpak Teddy Bear Toss. The first 100 kids through the gate will receive a kazoo, courtesy of Ward-Brodt Music, and all kids can run the bases post-game, presented by The Diamond Center. For tickets and more information, visit mallardsbaseball.com.