Madison, WI – The Madison Mallards (34-23) rallied from an early deficit and held off a late charge to defeat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (24-35) on Sunday afternoon at Warner Park.
Fond du Lac jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Madison answered immediately. Davis Hamilton (University of Minnesota) lined an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Dock Spiders added another run in the second, but Nate Novinska (University of Illinois) responded with an RBI double to trim the lead back to one at 3-2.
The Mallards pulled even in the fourth when a run scored on an error before Dom Jacoby (University of Louisville) delivered an RBI single to give Madison its first lead of the afternoon at 4-3. Hamilton followed with his second run-scoring hit of the game, extending the advantage to 5-3.
Quincy Mazeke (University of Cincinnati) launched a solo homer in the fifth for Fond du Lac to make it 5-4, but Aiden Arnett (Virginia Tech) answered in the bottom half with a solo blast of his own, restoring Madison’s two-run cushion at 6-4.
Jonah Weathers (University of Louisville) added an RBI single in the sixth to push the lead to 7-4, but the Dock Spiders refused to go away. Joey Arend (Xavier University) ripped a two-run double in the seventh to pull Fond du Lac within a run.
Madison responded with its biggest inning of the day in the bottom of the seventh. Novinska and Josue Figueroa (Florida A&M University) each launched home runs as the Mallards scored four times to stretch the lead to 11-6. Fond du Lac made things interesting with three runs in the eighth, but Madison shut the door to secure the 11-9 victory.
Ckyler Tengler (Arkansas State University) earned his sixth win of the season after allowing four runs over five innings. Nolan Meis (Southeastern Community College) was charged with the loss for the Dock Spiders, while Chase Baker (Indiana State University) recorded his first save of the season.
The Mallards start a three-game road trip on Monday night with a rematch against the Dock Spiders. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Madison returns to Warner Park on Thursday to open a series against the Rockford Rivets, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
