Mankato ran into some trouble over the weekend, as Waterloo swept the 2-game series on Saturday and Sunday by scores of 13-3 and 2-0.

Saturday night’s game was a game to forget for Mankato. Defensive struggles by the MoonDogs opened the door for Waterloo and they took full advantage, scoring 8 unearned runs on 5 MoonDogs errors.

The Bucks scored 4 runs in their half of the first, 5 runs in the third, and another 4 runs in the seventh. Mankato tacked on 2 runs in the top of the eighth to round out the scoring.

Alex Kringen (0-1) was the tough-luck loser, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing 9 runs, 8 of which were unearned, walking 3 and striking out 7 Bucks.

Sunday’s game turned into a great pitchers duel between two Big-Ten conference pitchers, Mankato’s Cole DeVries (Minnesota) and Waterloo’s Brandon Murphy (Illinois). Through 6 innings neither pitcher gave up a run until the bottom of the seventh, when Waterloo’s Dan Ruth cracked a double that scored 2 runs to break the scoreless tie.

That’s all the Bucks and Murphy needed, as Murphy (4-1) continued to dominate, finishing with a complete game, 6 hit shutout and while striking out 3.

DeVries (1-4) finished with 6.2 innings, allowing just 1 hit, giving up 2 runs, walking 2 and fanning 8 Bucks.

The Bucks had just 2 hits the entire game, but got the timely hit they needed.

Brady Dolan went 2-3 for the MoonDogs.