As has been customary for the MoonDogs and Express, tonight’s game featured early scoring and rain. But when all was said and done, the MoonDogs came out on top, 12-5. The Express kicked things off right away with two runs off MoonDogs starter, Ricky Digrugilliers, after an RBI groundout and a wild pitch. But the MoonDogs wasted no time getting those runs back and more in the bottom half of the inning, scoring five off Express starter Drew Gillespie, highlighted by two runs scoring on a Zac Wiley single.
The bats stayed hot for the MoonDogs, who scored in each of the first five innings. Two runs came across the plate in the second inning on a pair of hits from Toby Hanson and Logan Busch, as the MoonDogs chased Gillespie out of the game before he could record an out in his second inning of work.
By the time the Express could score a few more runs off Digrugilliers, capped off by a solo home run by Rudy Rott, the MoonDogs had scored ten of their own for their starter, who finished his night with five innings pitched, striking out three, walking two, and giving up four earned runs. Outfielder Jake Shepski then came in to pitch for the second straight night, blanking the Express for an inning, before giving way to fellow relievers Cooper Powell, Logan Alleman, and Austin Hansen. The MoonDogs bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless innings, allowing only three hits.
Eight starters had hits for the MoonDogs, with Logan Busch and Ryan Kreidler adding three apiece, and CJ Schaeffer contributing two of his own. Dominic Clementi was the lone Express player with two hits.
With the win, the MoonDogs get back up to .500, at 16-16, while the Express drop to 14-18. The MoonDogs stay in Mankato for the weekend to play two games against the Bismarck Larks, with Saturday’s game starting at 7:05.
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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.
