Mankato, Minnesota—In a game that lasted over five and a half hours, the Mankato MoonDogs eventually defeated the Waterloo Bucks, 4-3, in a 17 inning ball game at Franklin Rogers Park.
Pitching stole the show in this marathon, as MoonDogs starter Reece Eddins did not even allow a Buck to reach base until the fourth inning and would leave the game after giving Mankato eight innings on the bump, allowing just one run while striking out seven on six hits.
The Bucks scored the first run of the night in the fourth and the ‘Dogs got one back themselves in the sixth to tie up at one when Gavin Wehby came in to score an unearned run to put Mankato on the board.
It would take until the 15th for either team to score again, when the Bucks would finally break the tie that had begun in the sixth, only to give Mankato back a run in the bottom half when David Metzgar drove in Drew Fearing to keep the game alive.
Brian Gadsby relieved Eddins in the ninth and was brilliant, giving Mankato 6.2 innings out of the ‘pen, allowing just one run while striking out ten Bucks.
Brett Newberg would come in to get the final out in the 15th, and continue on into the 16th when he gave up a bases loaded walk to give the Bucks another lead, only to have Alex Tucker knock a single to tie it up yet again in the 16th.
With David Metzgar on third base, Bryce Adams would sneak one into leftfield to drive in a run and walk off the Bucks in the 17th inning.
Newberg would earn his second victory of the year after pitching a scoreless 17th, and MoonDogs pitching struck out 20 batters in total tonight.
Mankato certainly had their opportunities to end the game sooner than they had, loading the bases in the tenth after the Bucks intentionally walked Jake Shepski, but they were unable to get any runs in that inning and left 15 runners on the bases in total.
With the Willmar Stingers falling to the Rockford Rivets, tonight was a major victory for the MoonDogs who now move back into a second place tie, just a game and a half behind the St. Cloud Rox
Tomorrow will be a quick turnaround for the MoonDogs, who have a double-header against the Rochester Honkers with the first game at 12:05 p.m. at Mayo Field in Rochester and the second at 7:05 back at The Frank.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the gates, in their office at 1221 Caledonia St., or online at www.mankatomoondogs.com
You can catch all the action from both games 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.