Published On: August 1st, 2018

Watland Steers Mallards to 3-1 Win

Madison defeats Rockford in game one

Madison, Wis. –  Starting pitcher Justin Watland (San Jose State) led the Madison Mallards (15-10, 43-18) to a 3-1 win over the Rockford Rivets (8-18, 26-34) on Wednesday afternoon in Rockford. Watland held the Rivets hitless for the game’s first five innings and ended up tossing 7.0 innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Madison offense tallied nine hits and pushed across runs in the middle innings to cruise to a 3-1 win. The victory was the Mallards fourth in a row and gives the team a chance to sweep the doubleheader in tonight’s game at the Duck Pond.

 

Turning Point

While Watland was dominating the Rockford order, the Mallards offense was converting enough to build the righty a lead. After Trevor Boone (Oklahoma State) opened the scoring with an RBI single in the fourth,Justice Bigbie (Western Carolina) also posted an RBI knock in the fifth. By the sixth inning, the Mallards had built a 3-0 advantage after newcomer Cam Cratic (Madison College) knocked in Boone with an RBI single. Watland ended up departing after 7.0 innings with the Mallards in front 3-1.

Reliever Nicholes Morales (San Jose State) came in to work the eighth and ninth innings for Madison, working out of a pair of jams to seal the victory. Morales induced a fly out to strand the bases loaded in the eighth and finalized the victory with a pop out with two men on in the bottom of the ninth.

Top Mallards

  • Justin Watland made one of the best starts of the summer, hurling 7.0 innings while allowing only one run on two hits. Watland issued only one walk and struck out a season-high nine batters. Watland is now 3-1 this summer and owns a 3.44 ERA
  • Recent acquisition Cam Cratic had a strong debut, playing centerfield and going 2-for-5 with an RBI single at the dish. Cratic hit .364 at Madison College this spring and totaled 60 hits in 48 games
  • Infielder Justice Bigbiecontinued his hot streak at the plate, collecting two hits and an RBI. Bigbie has now knocked in runs in four straight games and has 11 hits over his last five games
  • Outfielder Trevor Boone picked up his first multi-hit game since July 17, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored

Next Up

The Mallards head back home to play the Rivets again tonight at 7:05 PM.  Tonight’s game at Warner Park features the ZOOperstars! and Alliant Energy STEM Night with gates opening at 5:30 PM. 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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