Madison, Wis. (June 21) – Less than 24 hours after walking off with a 4-2 victory over Kenosha despite just six hits as a club, the Madison Mallards (15-11) rewrote the narrative in their Sunday matinee affair with the Wisconsin Woodchucks (9-16), exploding for a season-high 20 hits en route to a decisive 14-2 victory at the Duck Pond.
The effort secured a fifth consecutive Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison ‘Big Win’ of the Night for the Mallards, who maintained sole possession of second place in the Northwoods League’s South Division.
It didn’t take long after Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch for Madison’s bats to ignite. After starting pitcher Nate Hoffmann (Middle Tennessee State) logged a trio of scoreless frames against the Woodchucks, the Mallards hung a three-spot on Wisconsin in the home half of the third, beginning with Logan Regnier’s (Central Michigan) run-scoring single and ending with Scott Tyler’s (Illinois State) two-run, two-out RBI double down the right field line. It was the first of two doubles for Tyler in the contest.
Madison’s lineup showed little sign of slowing from that point forward. Three more runs in the bottom of the fourth – courtesy of J.J. Gould’s (Jacksonville) RBI single, Jean Ramirez’s (Illinois State) RBI fielder’s choice and Collin Theroux’s (San Joaquin Delta College) RBI single – lifted Madison’s lead to 6-0. Donnie Scott and company churned out five more runs between the fifth and sixth innings, one of which came about via Chris Tschida’s (Western Illinois) solo home run and Collin Theroux’s second home run in as many games.
While Madison’s offense stole the show Sunday afternoon, its pitching was perhaps equally as impressive. Hoffman exited his fourth outing of the summer with another quality start, ceding no runs across five innings in which he walked none and fanned four. Nick Gruener (Harvard) pitched a scoreless top of the sixth. Josh Pierce (Central Michigan) worked out of his jam – 1.0 IP, 2 ER – in the bottom of the seventh. Jesse Kay (California) tabbed a scoreless eighth, and Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary’s College) whiffed one in a scoreless ninth.
With their fifteenth victory of the season in the books, the Mallards will turn their attention toward Monday’s double-header with the Woodchucks. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT from Athletic Park. Game two will take 30 minutes after the completion of game one. Follow all of tomorrow’s action live on 100.5 FM ESPN Madison and follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards for notes and updates.
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The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.MallardsBaseball.com.
