Madison, Wis. – The Madison Mallards (7-3) are back at the Duck Pond tonight looking to extend their win streak to six games as they take on the Battle Creek Bombers at 7:05 PM. Gates open at 5:30 PM and fans are encouraged to arrive early to secure one of the limited edition Chris Farley bobbleheads, presented by Dentistry for Madison: Dr. Jay Hazen.
After winning last night in Wausau, Madison sits alone atop the South Division with a 7-3 record. The Mallards pitching staff has been lights-out, posting a 2.35 ERA and holding batters to a .245 average and allowing only 11 extra base hits this season. Six different Mallards hurlers have pitched at least 5.0 innings this season while allowing only a single earned run or less.
Probable Pitchers
Scheduled to start for the Mallards tonight is Illinois righty Sean Leland. Leland will be making his first start this summer after working 5.0 innings out of the bullpen last Saturday. Leland struck out eight of the 24 batters he faced and allowed zero earned runs and only three hits.
The Bombers are planning to send righty Amani Godfrey to the mound to face the Mallards. Godfrey has made one start this season, working 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on four hits against the Kalamazoo Growlers. As a team, the Bombers sport a 4.22 ERA this season.
Players to Watch
After all recording hits last night, Jake Randa (NW Florida State),Tyler Plantier (Richmond) and David Vinsky (Northwood) all extended their season-long hitting streaks. Plantier continues to pace Mallards regular starters with a .385 average while Randa and Vinksy are close behind with .375 and .300 clips respectively.
Madison centerfielder Jayse McLean (NDSU) recorded another RBI last night, pushing him to ten this season, tying Randa for the team lead.
Mallards Transactions
Today, the Mallards welcome a pair of players to fill-out their 30-man roster as two-way player Carson Ragsdale (South Florida) and pitcher Alex Reyes (New Mexico State) both arrive in Madison today.
Follow @MadisonMallards on Twitter for in-game updates and check back after the ballgame for a complete recap.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via theNorthwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mallardsbaseball.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Mallards as your favorite team.
