(7/22/06) For a team that has played 19 games this season in which the total combined runs were three or less, Saturday’s slugfest was certainly out of the ordinary.

The Mankato MoonDogs pounded out 15 hits, their second-highest output of the season, en route to a 9-7 win over the St. Cloud River Bats. With the win, the MoonDogs won their third straight over the River Bats, and remained three games behind the Duluth Huskies for the North Division lead.

Nate Hanson broke a 6-6 tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning, one of his three hits on the night. Shane Buschini had led off the inning with a single, and Robert Rodebaugh walked before Adam Kampsen sacrificed both runners into scoring position to set up Hanson.

In addition to Hanson, four other MoonDogs posted multi-hit games, including Buschini and Rodebaugh, who both went 2-for-4, and Brandon Davis, who collected his second three-hit game of the week with two doubles and a single. James Keithley also went 2-for-4 with a run batted in.

Buschini’s two hits gave him a 12-game hitting streak in road games, the longest such streak in the Northwoods League this season. In that span, Buschini is batting .383 with seven extra-base hits and has struck out just twice in 47 at-bats.

Two MoonDogs made their pitching debuts last night, with mixed results. Starting pitcher Kevin Camacho, a teammate of All-Star Steve Salas at Cerritos College, got the starting assignment but could not get out of a third inning that saw him issue four walks and hit a batter. He was relieved by Josh Rohrich, who will be a teammate of fellow MoonDogs pitcher Matt Mossey at North Dakota State this fall. Rohrich allowed three runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings, but picked up the win in his first appearance.

Tom Porter allowed one hit over two shutout innings, and Jason Novak picked up his eighth straight save to close out the victory.