Madison, WI – The Madison Mallards opened up the second half of the Northwoods League campaign with a 1-0 victory over the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in front of 6,750 fans at Warner Park on Wednesday night. 

Similarly to Monday’s game at Warner Park, runs were hard to come by. Coley Kilpatrick (North Carolina A&T) delivered his best start of the season to date, tossing five shutout innings. He allowed five hits, one walk and struck out five. 

The Mallards struck first in the game when Will Vierling (Louisville) tapped a ball down the third base line, and Davis Hamilton (North Dakota State) scampered home to score on the throw to first base. Wisconsin Rapids put traffic on the basepaths throughout the game, but struggled to come through with timely hits. 

The Rafters had a runner reach third base with one out in the seventh inning but Tyler Guerin (Iowa) worked out of the jam on the mound. In the eighth inning, the Rafters got the tying run to third base again, but Ryan Osinski (Virginia) retired his college teammate Walker Buchanan (Virginia) with a fly out to end the frame.

Then in the ninth, the Rafters put runners on the corners with one out in the inning. Osinski got Cashel Dugger (UCLA) to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame, as the Mallards held on to win 1-0. Wisconsin Rapids was shutout despite recording ten hits.

Kilpatrick earned the win for the Mallards, his first of the season. Bryson Moore (Virginia) pitched well for the Rafters, but was charged with the loss. Osinski picked up his first save of the season.

The Mallards will head to Wisconsin Rapids to face the Rafters again on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The next home game at Warner Park for the Mallards will be on Friday night against the Lakeshore Chinooks, with first pitch at 6:05 p.m.