MANKATO-Minn. The MoonDogs gave up a season high eighteen runs at Franklin Rogers Park on Monday night as they fell to the Lakeshore Chinooks 18-4.

The Chinooks, who lead the south division continued to swing the bats well as they picked up their tenth straight win. Brandon Zywicki got the start for Mankato, giving up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Relievers Jacob Westerhouse, Chris Sauer, Matt Wilson, and Joe Hawks didn’t fare much better in the loss to the league’s best team.

After trailing in the game 4-3 in the fourth, Lakeshore piled on three runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, two in the seventh, and seven in the eighth, totaling 19 hits on the night. Several Chinooks players had big nights at the plate including second baseman Jake Noll who went four for seven and left fielder Connor McKay, who went three for three with a pair of walks.

With the loss, the MoonDogs drop to 13-11 in the north division second half standings while the Lakeshore Chinooks improve to 20-3 in the south. Both teams will be back in action for game two of the series at Franklin Rogers Park. First pitch is at 7:05pm. Fans can listen to all games live on AM1230 The Fan Mankato with the voice of the team, Josh Horton.

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 20-year old summer collegiate 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, 120 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.northwoodsleague.com.

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