The Mallards (2-2) finished out their two-game set in Wausau, Wisconsin on Thursday against the Woodchucks (3-1) and came away with a 5-4 victory in 12 innings.
After losing on a walk-off home run on Wednesday night, the Mallards had some timely hits plus some big pitching performances to lead them to victory tonight.
The scoring started in the second inning when Mallards shortstop Cam Frederick (Creighton) drew a bases-loaded walk against Woodchucks starter Tyler Hoeft.
The Woodchucks were able to tie it right back up in the bottom of the second though as Noah Fitzgerald hit an RBI single.
The Ducks re-gained the lead in the fifth inning on a clutch two-out single from Jacob Cambell (Illinois). They extended the lead to 3-1 with an RBI single from Frederick for his second RBI on the night.
The Woodchucks got one run back in the bottom of the 6th when Noah Fitzgerald once again came through with an RBI single.
Mallards starter Andrew Neu (UW-Milwaukee) had a solid debut with the team as he went 5.2 innings with two runs, neither of which were earned runs. He also had four strikeouts.
Out of the bullpen, Jack Anderson (Princeton) pitched 1.2 scoreless innings for the Mallards, but Christian Horner then came in and gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single from Robert Brooks. That sent the game to extra innings.
With the extra inning rule of the runner starting on second base, the Mallards went down in order in the top of the 10th. Terrell Hudson then came in to make his first Mallards appearance in the bottom of the inning and held the Woodchucks scoreless.
In the top of the 11th, the Mallards took the lead on an RBI groundout from Matt Scannell (Princeton). However, the Woodchucks came back in the bottom of the inning to score one and send it to the 12th.
Fitzgerald laid down a sacrifice bunt to get the runner from second over to third, who then scored on a ground ball to Frederick at short.
The Mallards came right back in the top of the 12th though, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly from JT Benson (Louisville). That put them up 5-4.
In the bottom of the 12, Eric Newman came in to pitch for the Mallards and pitched a scoreless inning, picking up the team’s first save of the season.
Tyler Dean (St. Edwards) led the Mallards offensively with two hits on the night.
Next up for the Ducks is a game back at the Warner Park Duck Pond against Wisconsin Rapids. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. in the first of a home-and-home series with the Rapids.
