Mankato, Minn. – Simply put, the Mankato MoonDogs pitching staff is dealing. Ryan Demmin pitched seven shutout innings, and John Brebbia (Elon) cleaned up the last two, as the MoonDogs recorded their second straight shutout with a 5-0 victory over Waterloo Saturday night at the Frank.

Demmin (UW-Oshkosh) allowed just five hits and struck out seven batters on the evening, moving to 3-1 on the season and lowering his ERA to 1.00. The MoonDogs (11-5) wrapped up their first of two six games homestands in 14 days with a 5-1 mark, retaining first place in the North Division.

A majority of the offensive damage was done with just two swings of the bat in the third inning. Tony Strazzara (San Diego) belted his second home run of the year, a two-run shot to deep left field that put the MoonDogs up 2-0. Three batters later after a Ryan Durant (Iowa) single, Jimmy Patterson (Central Arizona) went deep to almost the same spot in left to make in a 4-0 ballgame.

The MoonDogs would score their final run of the game in the seventh inning on a Patterson double play ball.

Durant led all players with three hits and a run on the evening. Troy Larson (Minnesota) also added two hits and a run for the MoonDogs. Jason Krizan (Dallas Baptist) had two hits and a double to pace the Bucks (3-13).

Jarod Wagoner (Butler) suffered the loss for Waterloo, lasting just three innings and giving up the four earned runs. He struck out one batter and fell to 0-2 on the year.

Mankato will travel to Alexandria for two games with the Beetles before returning home. The Bucks will return home for two games with Wisconsin starting tomorrow. First pitch from both venues will be at 3:05 p.m. tomorrow.