The Mankato MoonDogs defeated the Waterloo Bucks 10-6 Friday, taking the four game series over the Bucks three games to one.
The MoonDogs found themselves in an early hole, allowing for Waterloo to score one run in the first and second innings.
Mankato would answer with three runs in the third on the back of an RBI groundout from Nick Novak (Angelo State), an RBI single from Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State), and an RBI single from CJ Huntley (Indiana State), giving the Dogs a 3-2 lead.
Waterloo struck back in the bottom of the third, as the Bucks added two runs to reclaim a one run lead 4-3.
Josh Elvir (Houston) opened up the scoring in the fifth inning, driving in Jake Shepski (Xavier) to tie the game. Two batters later, Evan Klugerman (Bucknell) drove in Elvir to give the MoonDogs a 5-4 lead.
After another Kyle MacDonald RBI in the sixth, the MoonDogs carried a 6-4 lead into the home half of the inning, where Waterloo again tied the game.
In the seventh inning, the MoonDogs grabbed the lead permanently, scoring four runs with two outs off the bats of Shepski, MacDonald, Elvir, and Huntley. The 10-6 lead held strong for the MoonDogs, as they tallied their eleventh victory of the season.
The winning pitcher for the MoonDogs was Jacob Nagel (Bellarmine), who threw one and two thirds innings and allowed no earned runs. Brandon Pfaadt (Bellarmine) also tossed a scoreless inning to close the game, striking out one.
Mankato will open a two game home and home series against the Willmar Stingers on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM/7:05 Central Time.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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, more than 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 https://northwoodsleague.com/mankato-moondogs/ 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.
