Mankato, MN—The Mankato MoonDogs were able to defeat the Kalamazoo Growlers at Franklin Rogers Park, by a score of 8-6, to complete a perfect 4-0 home stand.
More important than just a perfect homestand, the MoonDogs were able to keep pace with both Eau Claire and Willmar, who also won tonight, while also gaining a game on St. Cloud and Waterloo, all are teams fighting it out on top of the North Division standings.
The MoonDogs fell behind 6-2 after a fifth inning grand slam by Kalamazoo’s Nick Hutchins, but the ‘Dogs were able to strike back with four of their own in the next inning to tie it up.
After tying it up, Mankato was able to get two solo shots: the first from Marcus Pingleton in the seventh, his fifth of the season, and Jake Roberts in the eighth, his first of the year.
Roberts was able to drive in a runner in the sixth as well, giving him two RBIs for the night, while also scoring two runs as well.
Drew Fearing led the team, driving in three runs for Mankato, going 2-for-4 on the night.
Cameron Linck was the starter for the MoonDogs and gave up six runs, five earned, on five hits in 4.1 innings.
Kenny Varnell made his MoonDogs debut and was able to pick up the victory, going 1.1 scoreless innings with a strike out.
Kevin Yarabinec came in for the final five outs, getting strike outs for three of those outs, and was able to get the save for Mankato, his first of the season.
The MoonDogs will be travelling to St. Cloud tomorrow to begin a two-game series against the Rox, you can listen to the game live on 1230 AM The Fan Mankato, the iHeart Radio App, or online at www.mankatomoondogs.com
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd 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 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visitwww.mankatomoondogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-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, more than 150 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store.