A pair of firsts, and another great outing by Jake Eiler, helped the Mallards defeat the River Bats on the road Monday, 6-3. The win further solidifies the Mallards? first-place position in the South Division, and brings Madison even closer to clinching a playoff spot. The Mallards are a league best 36-20 overall, 18-7 in the second half. Waterloo was defeated in Rochester, 3-2, extending Madison?s division lead to three games & making the Mallards Second-Half Championship magic number five.
Jake Eiler (5-2) pitched six and two thirds strong innings to pick up the victory, but Jeff Bieker and Daryl Maday were equally influential for Madison. Bieker homered twice on the night, marking the first Mallards player to hit multiple home runs in one game this season.
Bieker led off the fourth with a shot that bounced off the top off the wall and was called a homerun, but his sixth inning blast stole the show. Bieker sent a towering shot over the scoreboard 350 feet out in left field, easily clearing the 30-foot-high structure.
Daryl Maday, who was moved to the bullpen, pitched two and one third innings to earn his first save of the season. Maday allowed one earned run and struck out four.
The Mallards jumped to an early lead in the first, as Greg Thomson scored on a fielder?s choice to make it 1-0. Bieker?s solo home run made it 2-0 in the fourth inning. Doug Beck brought home Abe Aguirre in the fifth with an RBI single. Bieker homered again in the sixth. Ryan Rogowski and John Martin added more insurance in the eighth, each contributing an RBI.
Now 2-1 in a four-game road trip, the Mallards look to sweep the series in St. Cloud tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. The Mallards return to the Duck Pond on Wed., Aug. 4th, facing the Mankato MoonDogs in a day/night doubleheader. Game one commences at 1:05, and game two starts at 7:05. The Mallards play the MoonDogs again Thursday, before hosting a two-game series versus the Wausau Woodchucks in the last home games of the regular season. The Mallards organization encourages fans to purchase tickets for remaining home games in advance, either online at www.mallardsbaseball.com, by phone: 608 215-0941, or by stopping in the office located at 2920 N. Sherman Ave. Also, Wednesday night is the last game with tickets available for the Great Dane Duck Blind. In addition, Wednesday night’s game will have public seating available on the Budweiser/WJJO Solid Rock Rooftop. Be sure to purchase tickets now, as this will be the last oppourtunity of the season to sit on the roof!
