(Thunder Bay, Ontario) – The Mankato MoonDogs defeated the Thunder Bay Border Cats 3-2 in front of 1,109 fans at Port Arthur Stadium last night. Solid pitching and timely hitting were the keys to a MoonDogs victory in a game that was one again decided by a single run.

Thunder Bay opened the scoring in the contest in the bottom of the second inning with a homerun from Brandon McCall, his first of the season. The MoonDogs struck back in the top of the sixth with RBI hits from James Keithley (Texas-San Antonio) and Ben Geelan (Iowa). Both Keithley and Geelan had two hits in the game leading the MoonDogs 10-hit parade.

Thunder Bay answered with a run scoring double in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 2. Alfredo Carmona drove in McCall, who scored both of the Border Cats’ runs. MoonDogs starter Danny Keefe (Pasco-Hernando CC) was tagged for both runs in his six and two-thirds innings of work. He allowed just three hits and stuck out three.

With the game knotted at two in the top of the ninth, Geelan led of the innings with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Following a walk and a strikeout, Bobby Munoz (Santa Fe CC) hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Geelan with the winning run. Blake Devries (Concordia-St. Paul) came on in the bottom of the ninth to close the door and pick up his first save of the season.

Will Palmer (Georgia State) picked up the victory, working one and a third perfect innings of relief. The MoonDogs move to 2-1 on the season, tied for first place on the North Division while the Border Cats remain winless in three games this season. The teams wrap up the two game series tonight at 6:05 pm at Port Arthur Stadium.