Published On: June 27th, 2018

Madison, Wis. –  The Madison Mallards (23-6) scraped out a thrilling victory over the Rockford Rivets (15-13) in an insane 14-12 ballgame at Warner Park on Wednesday afternoon. The teams combined for 30 total hits on their way to 26 runs. The Mallards sticks would not let up as all but one Mallards batter recorded a hit. The game featured three lead changes and the Mallards tallied seven runs in the game’s final four innings to grab the hectic 14-12 win.

Turning Point

The Mallards built an early 7-4 lead thanks to a fifth inning three-run bomb by Jake Randa(NW Florida State). However, the Rivets responded with an eight-run sixth inning that was dreadful for the Mallards. The Rivets brought 14 batters to the plate and pulled out to a 12-7 advantage.

With a night game looming in Rockford, the Mallards looked beat. However, the Mallards rallied in the bottom of the frame scoring three runs thanks to RBIs by David Vinsky (Northwood), Jayse McLean (NDSU) and Justice Bigbie (Western Carolina). Trailing by two and heading to the seventh, the Mallards had a hint of momentum.

In the bottom of the seventh and a man on base, Madison third baseman Tyler Plantier (Richmond) came through with the biggest knock of the afternoon, crushing a game-tying two-run home run over the left field fence. Three batters later, Drew Campbell (Louisville) knocked in Vinsky to give the Mallards a 13-12 lead on a soft, seeing-eye bloop single to right field. Mallards catcher Jesse Forestell (Western Michigan) added insurance in the eighth inning with a solo shot and Nicholes Morales (San Jose State) pitched the game’s final two innings to seal the thrilling victory.

Top Mallards

  • Tyler Plantierfinished 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, one run scored and a walk. Plantier is currently tied for the league lead with seven home runs this season
  • Jake Randa went 2-for-5 on the day with 3 RBI that all came on his go-ahead three-run bomb in the fourth inning. Randa leads the NWL with 31 RBI this season.
  • Leftfielder Drew Campbell collected three hits, one of which was a double, and knocked in a pair of runs while also swiping a bag. Campbell now has five hits over his last three games.

 

 

 

 

Quoteables

Manager Donnie Scott on the team’s comeback…

“I just told them that hey, this is why you’re here. Being tired is just a mindset. You can turn it up notches and that’s what you’re trying to figure out coming to this league. They responded.”

On the offense coming through in key spots…

“Unbelievable. These guys have been doing it all year long. This is pretty neat to watch, we have a special ball club, man.”

Next Up

Madison now travels to Rockford for the second half of today’s doubleheader, a 6:35 PM meeting at Rivets Stadium. The Mallards return home tomorrow to take on the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 7:05 PM. The game features Unicorn Night with Mystical Maynard bobblehead giveaway presented by Pepsi. For tickets and more information visit mallardsbaseball.com. Make sure to catch every Mallards game on The Zone, 1670 AM and 96.7 FM.

 

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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via theNorthwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mallardsbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Mallards as your favorite team.

 

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