MANKATO- Minn. Errors and poor hitting plagued the MoonDogs and they dropped Tuesday night’s game 4-3 at Franklin Rogers Park in front of a crowd 1208.

The loss was detrimental to the team’s confidence as they fell further behind the Willmar Stingers for the division lead, now trailing by 3.5 games with a 17-12 record. The Waterloo Bucks improve to 19-10 with the victory. Blake Battenfield got the start for the MoonDogs and went four complete innings, giving up three runs (two earned) and three hits to the Waterloo Bucks hitters.

Overall, it was a lackluster performance for the MoonDogs from a hitting standpoint. They managed a run in the third and another two in the fifth but never seemed to be in charge as they got a total of just five hits on the night. Waterloo ended the night with four runs on six hits and it ended up being just enough offense to get the victory, putting up single runs in the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings. The MoonDogs had trouble fielding fly balls throughout the night, committing three errors.

Not everyone in the MoonDogs’ lineup had a poor night at the plate as Ridge Smith went two for three with a double to deep left center field in the third and Eric Schenck-Joblinske also notched a pair of singles to go two for three. Bucks starting pitcher Tim Shannon picked up the win, going five innings and allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out two.

The MoonDogs will be back in action tomorrow night at Franklin Rogers Park at 7:05pm against the Waterloo Bucks. Fans can listen to all MoonDogs games on AM1230 The Fan Mankato with the radio voice of the MoonDogs Josh Horton.

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, visit www.mankatomoondogs.com

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