Good pitching, good fielding and timely hitting are three main ingredients in the recipe for baseball success. The Mankato MoonDogs received all three in a 3-2 victory over the Duluth Huskies in the opening round of a two-game set at Wade Stadium on a chilly Wednesday evening just off Lake Superior.

The MoonDogs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the second when Derek Umphres roped an RBI single right back up the middle, scoring Tanner Rockwell who doubled down the left field line earlier in the inning.

Duluth changed the pace of the ballgame with one swing of the bat when Keach Ballard sent a two-run home run over the left field fence to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead in the home half of the sixth.

However, Tyler Sullivan tied the game at 2-2 by bringing home Peter Maris on a sacrifice fly to center in the top of the seventh.

Maris then gave the MoonDogs the lead for good in the top of the eighth when he bounced a ground ball up the middle that ricocheted off the glove of a Huskies infielder and into center allowing Brett Synek to score easily from second base.

Jake Westerhouse came on to toss a perfect ninth, picking up his team-leading fourth save and securing the MoonDogs 3-2 victory.

Blake Battenfield was credited with the win for the MoonDogs with 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of MoonDogs starting pitcher Dillon Williams. The southpaw out of Shelton State tossed 5.2 innings allowing just two runs on three hits and struck out five.

Bo Hellquist suffered the loss for the Huskies and tossed 1.1 innings allowing one run on two hits.

The MoonDogs and Huskies conclude a two-game series on Thursday evening at 6:35 p.m. Cord Cockrell gets the nod for the MoonDogs while Dylan Barrow gets the ball for the Huskies.