The Madison Mallards (37-25) took a close loss to the Wausau Woodchucks (29-33) in their last meeting for the regular season. Despite grabbing an early lead, errors on the Mallards defense contributed to a 8-5 Woodchuck victory. 

The Mallards jumped on the Woodchucks early. In the top of the first,  EJ Ranel (Lenoir-Rhyne) hammered a double on the first pitch to land in scoring position right away. Next, Ben Anderson ripped an RBI double to score Ranel and put the Mallards on top 1-0, on only the second pitch with no outs. The bases were loaded as JT Mabry (Middle Tennessee State) ripped an RBI single to drive in a run, followed by an error on the play to bring another man home to make the score 3-0. Adding one more run, Jordan Stephens (Miami Ohio) slammed an RBI double to make the score 4-0, before the inning came to a close. 

Wausau responded in the top of the third, scoring two runs to cut the Mallards lead in half, 4-2. The first run was brought home by an RBI single by TJ Reeves (Alabama), the second on a sacrifice fly by Adam Frank (FDU). 

In the bottom of the inning the Mallards pulled ahead by two, scoring one run off an RBI single by Stephens. Stephens’ second RBI brought the score to 5-3.

The offense fell silent in the fourth, but the Woodchucks managed to climb within one run in the top of the fifth. Back-to-back RBI singles by Reeves and Brandon Seltzer (Palm Beach Atlantic), made the score 5-4. 

Madison began to crumble in the top of the sixth. Lawrence Cicileo (Adelphi University), sent the ball over the fence for a two-run home run, putting the Woodchucks for the first time, 6-5. An error by the Mallards infield gave Wausau an easy pass to jump ahead by two, 7-5. 

In the top of the eighth, Cicileo put the ball over the fence for the second time, driving up the score 8-5, in favor of the Woodchucks. 

Through the next inning and a half the Mallards were unable to come up with an answer. The Mallards were handed their 25th loss of the season, after being defeated 8-5. 

The losing pitcher for Madison is starter Quinn Gudaitis (Illinois Wesleyan), as he gave up three runs in the sixth inning to let the Woodchucks take the lead. 

A win was awarded to Woodchucks pitcher, Fernando Colon (Jackson State University). During his time on the mound, he prevented the Mallards from regaining the lead, after Madison gave it up in the sixth. Joey Hennessey (Palm Beach Atlantic) was awarded the save. 

Turning Point

In the sixth inning the Woodchucks scored three runs to take the lead 6-5. This marked the first lead for the Woodchucks, as the team managed to maintain the lead for the remainder of the game. 

Top Mallards

• Ranel was named Impact Player of the Night after ripping a lead off double on the first pitch of the game. 
• Stephens contributed two RBI singles to put the Mallards on the board. 
• Austin Blazevic (Southeast Missouri) and Ben Anderson (Georgia) both had two hits.

Up Next

The Mallards are hitting the road to compete against the Battle Creek Bombers (21-40), for a two-game series. The matchup marks the first meeting between the two teams this season. First pitch in Battle Creek, Michigan, is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.