Mankato, Minn. – The MoonDogs lost their first game of the season after a rough eighth inning by Jacob Nagel. The Sophomore had thrown a pair of wild pitches that allowed left fielder, General McArthur, and designated hitter, Bradly Norton to score and take a 3-2 lead late in the game.
Senior right-hander, Nathan Hickey took the mound for the MoonDogs today, he threw seven innings and struck out five. Hickey’s only surrendered run came in the 4th inning after right fielder, Ben McClain hit a line drive to center field and scored second baseman, Augie Isaacson.
The MoonDogs responded in the bottom of the fourth after Nick Novak hit a single, and swiped both second and third base. Josh Elvir drove in Novak after singling to right field. Mankato would take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Kenton Crews hit a single to right field and scored Josh Elvir.
Duluth would quickly retake the lead by scoring two runs off of a pair of wild pitches from Nagel.
Kevin Folman would come in to close out the game in the ninth inning by retiring all three batters.
The St. Cloud Rox will come to town tomorrow, and first pitch will be at 7:05 pm at Franklin Rogers Park.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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, 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.