Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks erased a 6-0 deficit and defeated the Madison Mallards 7-6 on Sunday afternoon, as the teams split their two-game series. With the loss, the Mallards fell behind the Wausau Woodchucks by one game in the Great Lakes West division race with two games remaining in the first half. Madison must now win both games in order to clinch a playoff spot.

The Mallards offense came ready to play early on, scoring four runs in the top of the second inning. Two of the runs came on a Justin Best (Florida State) single, and two came on a Chinooks error. Will Vierling (Louisville) extended the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single, and Madison added another in the fourth inning to open up a 6-0 advantage. 

Elliot Cadieux Lanoue (Iowa) threw four scoreless innings to start the game on the mound, but ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. After a bases loaded walk gave Lakeshore their first run of the game, Ty Wisdom (Kansas) hit a two-run single to bring the Chinooks within three. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Chinooks scored two more runs on an error to cut the Madison lead to 6-5. Then Mason Schwalbach (Kansas State) tied the game at six with an RBI triple, and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Wisdom. Neither team scored the rest of the way, and the Chinooks snapped the Mallards’ seven game win streak.

Michael Gray (Denison) was fantastic on the mound in relief for the Chinooks, silencing the Mallards offense in the second half of the game. He tossed five scoreless innings and earned his second win of the season. Andrew Ravelo (Los Angeles Harbor College) was charged with the loss for the Mallards.

The Mallards will face the Wausau Woodchucks twice to wrap up the first half of the season, needing to beat them both times in order to win the Great Lakes West first half title. The first matchup between the teams takes place on Monday night at Warner Park, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.