Madison, WI – The Madison Mallards (2-2) fell short in a high-scoring battle Thursday against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (3-1) at Warner Park, splitting the two-game series.

The Dock Spiders grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run double from Luke Meyer (Wheeling Jesuit University). In the second, Miles Vandenheuvel (Ohio State University) launched a two-run homer to double the advantage.

Fond du Lac broke the game open in the third. Already leading 6-0, Meyer returned to the plate and crushed a grand slam to give the Dock Spiders a commanding 10-0 lead. Meyer finished a dominant night 4-for-5 with the grand slam, two doubles, and eight runs batted in.

The Mallards began to chip away in the fourth inning. With two runs already across, Preston Yaucher (Penn State University) lined a two-run single to cut the deficit to six. In the fifth, Aiden Arnett (Virginia Tech) drove a three-run home run the opposite way to trim the lead to 10-7. It was his first homer of the season.

The comeback effort stalled there, as the Dock Spiders answered with four runs in the sixth and two more in the eighth to regain control. Jeremy Martinez (Indiana State University) added an RBI single in the ninth for his first hit as a Mallard, but Fond du Lac closed out a 16-8 victory.

Luke Ulrich (University of San Diego) earned the win for the Dock Spiders, his second of the season. Max Brunngraber (Pomona-Pitzer) was charged with the loss for the Mallards.

The Mallards hit the road for a two-game series against the Green Bay Rockers in Ashwaubenon, with first pitch on Friday scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The team returns home to Warner Park on Monday to face the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at 6:05 p.m.