(Mankato, MN) Brendan Lafferty (UCLA) pitched eight exceptional innings for the MoonDogs allowing one unearned run on four hits and Mike Lobacz (Elon) had a 3-for-4 night at the plate as the Mankato MoonDogs won their 20th game of the season defeating the Madison Mallards by a final score of 4-1. Cory Harrilchak (Elon) and Bobby Munoz (St. Leo’s) each had two hits for the home team, with Harrilchak coming around to score twice, and Munoz scoring once on the evening.

The MoonDogs jumped out to a lead in the fourth inning scoring one run on Wes Freie’s (Iowa) RBI single that drove in Harrilchak. The MoonDogs added three more runs in the fifth as the Madison bullpen struggled with their control. Two Mankato runs came in on passed balls by the catcher and one came in on the Mallards lone error of the contest.

Lafferty had some struggles with his control during the game walking five batters, but he also struck out eight batters on route to his second win of the season. Erik Hamren (UC-Irvine) came into the game in the ninth and walked the first batter before retiring the next three for his fourth save of the season.

The win pushes the MoonDogs to 20-12 on the season and extends their lead in the division to a game and a half after Waterloo defeated Rochester 9-0 on Tuesday. Mankato will now travel Thunder Bay for a two-game series, the final series of the first half of the season. The MoonDogs will need to win one of the two games to wrap up the first-half North Division title. Madison’s record moves to 20-11 after the loss, but they stay in a tie with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, who lost to Brainerd 7-6 on Tuesday.