Madison, Wis. – The Madison Mallards (24-7) hit the road today looking for a sweep of the Wisconsin Woodchucks (8-22). The Mallards take on the Woodchucks at 6:35 PM in Wausau with a chance to clinch the Northwoods League South Division first half title. With a Kalamazoo loss in Rockford tonight, and a Mallards victory, the Mallards will claim the first half crown due to a 3.0 game lead, possession of the tiebreaker with Kalamazoo, and five games remaining.
Probable Pitcher
Scheduled to start tonight for the Mallards is Texas A&M southpaw Dustin Saenz. Saenz has made two appearances this season out of the bullpen, allowing three runs over 4.1 innings on the bump. Despite allowing a couple runs, Saenz has only given up two hits, holding opposing batters to just a .133 clip at the plate. Saenz looks to match Ryan Kutt’s (Illinois) stellar outing last night when he went 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit while striking out seven.
Players to Watch
Mallards infielder Trevor Schwecke (UW-Milwaukee) is in the midst of a 15 game hit streak, a NWL season high. The sophomore has raised his average to .315 thanks to a hot two weeks at the dish. Schwecke has been a threat on the base paths all season, leading the team with 12 stolen bases.
Mallards third baseman Tyler Plantier (Richmond) is the NWL leader in home runs (8) this season. Plantier has launched four bombs over his last six games and has knocked in 25 runs this summer. The slugger currently holds a .434 OBP and has a .348 average.
Mallards utility man David Vinsky(Northwood) has had two spectacular games recently. Vinsky has homered in back-to-back ballgames and now has 25 RBI this season while hitting .310 at the dish. Vinsky is one of six Mallards regulars who holds an average above .300.
For tickets and more information visit mallardsbaseball.com. Make sure to catch every Mallards game 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. 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 the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.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.
