Mankato, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs fell to the Battle Creek Bombers 11-6 on Thursday night at Franklin Rogers Park. The MoonDogs are down 1-0 in the Summer Collegiate World Series.

It looked promising for MoonDogs fans the first two innings after MoonDogs starting pitcher Sam Selman (Vanderbilt) struck out the side to start to game off and the MoonDogs scored two runs in the first, fueled by a Shaun Cooper (Utah) leadoff triple. But, the Battle Creek Bombers had a huge third inning, scoring five runs to propel themselves to victory. The MoonDogs pulled to within three runs with two innings to play but could not stage a late-inning comeback.

The Battle Creek offense was on all cylinders Thursday night. The Bombers had 14 hits, with two home runs and three doubles. Troy White (Northern Illinois) and Daniel Rockett (Texas-San Antonio) powered the middle of the Bomber lineup, driving in five of the seven Bomber RBIs on the evening.

Cody Ferrell (Seminole St.) led the MoonDogs offense, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Chris Ross (Montevallo) was 1-for-4, but had two RBIs on the night.

Sam Selman suffered the loss for the MoonDogs on the mound despite hit hot start. Selman pitched five innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits while striking out five Battle Creek hitters. For the Bombers, Ben Ballantine (Michigan) was the winning pitcher, throwing six innings and giving up five runs on five hits. Alex Tukey (Minnesota) was credited with the save, pitching three innings of one hit baseball and giving up one run.

The series now moves to Battle Creek, Michigan. Both teams will square off against each other once again tomorrow night at 7:05 eastern time (6:05 central) at C.O. Brown Stadium. The MoonDogs will look for revenge as they find themselves in a corner, with the Bombers only needing to win one more game to clinch the Summer Collegiate World Series championship. Tune in to JJ Hartigan, the voice of the MoonDogs, tomorrow night at 6:05 central time at mankatomoondogs.com!