WATERLOO, Iowa. The MoonDogs scored two runs in the third and three runs in the eighth to defeat the Bucks Wednesday night 5-1, snapping Waterloo's five game winning streak. Tyler Lesley grabbed the win for Mankato, working 6.0 innings and allowing 1 earned run on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. Offensively, the MoonDogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, loading the bases for Zac Wiley who delivered a single to drive in both Jake Shepski and Alvaro Rubalcaba. The Bucks left nine runners aboard in the game, but scored a run in the fifth when Kyle Crowl came in on a Keaton Presley groundout.
The MoonDogs added three insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning. Garrison Schwartz walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Brett Newberg was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second with one out, Ethan Valdez reached on a hit by pitch, and Kenton Crews scored two on a bases loaded single. Alvaro Rubalcaba followed with an RBI single and Naithan Dewsnap came in to pitch the ninth, allowing one base hit and striking out one, sealing the win for the MoonDogs.
The win marks the first winning streak of the season as they have now defeated Willmar and Waterloo on back-to-back nights. The MoonDogs will be back in action tomorrow night at Riverfront Stadium to face the Bucks in the second game of the two game series at 6:35pm. The MoonDogs win improves their record to 5-4. The Bucks drop to 6-3.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit [www.mankatomoondogs.com]or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and two-time World Series Champion 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 or on Google Play.