The Mallards offense left plenty to be desired on the basepaths in loss

Wausau, WI – Madison was swept by Wausau on Friday night from Athletic Park by a final score of 5-2 while leaving the bases loaded twice.

The Mallards drew first blood in the finale of the two-game series by plating two runs in the top of the 2nd inning. Isaiah Jackson (3-3, BB) and Mike Gupton both singled in runs to give Madison an early 2-0 lead.

Wausau would swing back in the bottom half of the frame against left-handed starter Tommy Meyer. After loading the bases with nobody out, Meyer struck out Vincent Samuel but Dalton Pearson followed him up with a single to put the Woodchucks on the board. On the final pitch of the inning, Meyer reached the 35-pitch limit disallowing him to enter for the 3rd inning, by Northwoods League rules.

Both of the offenses went relatively quiet until the bottom of the 5th inning when the Woodchucks eventually got to reliever Will Simmons. Three hits in the half-inning pushed Wausau in front for the first time. A stand-up double clipping the left field line hit by Mike Adair and a single from Jake Baker gave the Woodchucks a 3-2 lead.

Madison had a premium chance in the top of the 6th inning to tie or take the lead against Wausau’s Alex Brechheimer. After the offense loaded the bases without an out in the frame, Gupton rolled into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Jake Holcroft was the next Mallards’ batter due up. Holcroft fought off a few fastballs from Breckheimer and then Woodchucks’ manager Brock Moss appeared from the dugout. In a 2-2 count, Moss went to the bullpen for Christian Clack. The southpaw punched out Holcroft after the long battle and then fanned Keenan Taylor on three consecutive pitches to stand all three runners, trailing by one.

Moss’ offense added two more runs in the bottom of the 6th against Madison’s Cole Heath on another two-out RBI hack from Adair. The Woodchucks’ left fielder tallied three hits, the two for runs were both with two outs. Clack flustered Madison batters until the game was over, striking out five.

For the second time this season, Madison was swept in a two-game series. Wausau increases their division lead from two games to three with the Friday night win. The Mallards return home for a singular game tomorrow against the Lakeshore Chinooks at Warner Park with a 4:05 P.M. first pitch scheduled.