The Mallards grabbed an early 1-0 lead over the Rochester Honkers Monday night, but could not solve strong Rochester pitching and had no answer for scoring outbursts in the second and sixth innings from the home team, as the Mallards lost on the road, 6-3. Daryl Maday, fresh off a strong showing with Arkansas in the 2004 College World Series, made his first start for the Mallards, going six innings and allowing six earned runs on eight hits to pick up the loss. Maday struck out six Honkers on the night. The loss drops the Mallards to 13-12, four and a half games back from the South Division leading La Crosse Loggers.

As it has been largely the case on the road this season, the Mallards offense was out of synch. Catcher John Martin was the only Mallard with a multi-hit night, going 2-for-4, with two RBI. Ryan Rogowski also had an RBI for Madison.

Leading 1-0 through the first inning, the Honkers responded with four runs in the second inning. The Mallards rallied to cut Rochester?s lead to one in the fifth inning, but again the Honkers answered in the next inning, adding two runs in the sixth to make it 6-3.

The Mallards (13-12) begin a six-game home stand, the longest of the season, tonight against the Duluth Huskies (10-16). After two games against Duluth, the Mallards will play two games apiece against the Waterloo Bucks and the Alexandria Beetles. Tickets for all Mallards home games are available online at www.mallardsbaseball.com and at our office located on 2920 N. Sherman Ave.