MANKATO- The Mankato MoonDogs gave up 12 runs on 16 hits as they went on to lose a sloppy game to the Waterloo Bucks 12-8 at Franklin Rogers Park Thursday night. Mankato starting pitcher Dillon Williams got in trouble early and never found his groove as he went on to take the loss for the MoonDogs, pitching 4.1 innings. He allowed seven runs, four earned including a pair in the top of the first which gave the Bucks an early lead.
The Bucks really opened up the scoring in the top of the fifth inning when AJ Puk led off with a single. David Kerrian followed with a walk and Connor McClain hit a single to load the bases. Zach Soria would come to the plate and reach on an error, scoring Puk. This spelled the end of the night for Dillon Williams and James McMahon would come in for relief. A series of wild pitches and errors helped the Bucks to score a total of five in the innings.
The MoonDogs would get a glimmer of hope back in the bottom of inning five when Levi Scott came to the plate and smashed a line drive grand slam over the left center field fence, drawing Mankato to within four. They would add two more in the bottom of the sixth to draw with a run at 8-7 off a triple by Justin Fletcher.
The errors both mental and physical took a toll on the MoonDogs throughout the course of the game as they would give up another run in the seventh and three more in the eighth. Officially, Mankato ended the night with four errors.
Bucks starting pitcher Mario Leon picked up the win, throwing five complete innings and giving up five earned runs on five hits while striking out eight and walking one.
The MoonDogs are back in action tomorrow night again at Franklin Rogers Park where they will have a chance to even the two game series against Waterloo. First pitch is at 7:05pm. Fans can listen to MoonDogs radio voice Josh Horton all season long on AM1230 The Fan Mankato.
The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visitwww.mankatomoondogs.com
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