MoonDogs Stretch Win Streak to Five

Mankato found themselves in an early hole after La Crosse jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first. Mankato answered in the second, scoring Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State) on an error after a hard hit ball from Zac Wiley (Bellarmine).

The MoonDogs briefly grabbed the lead in the fourth, plating two runs after Garrett Mitchell (UCLA) and Sean Noel (North Dakota State) drove in runs. La Crosse struck back in the bottom half of the fourth, scoring three to take a one run lead into the fifth.

After Brandon Pfaadt (Bellarmine) came in and shut down the Loggers offense, the MoonDogs would go scoreless until a big seventh inning. Mankato tallied four runs in the seventh, highlighted by a double that scored two for RJ Teijeiro (UCLA). The MoonDogs staked themselves to a three run lead, one that the Loggers could not come back from.

La Crosse mounted a rally in the ninth, scoring a run after a Mike Rothenberg (Duke) single drove in Harrison Freed (Butler). Zach Hardy (New Mexico State) was able to work out of the jam from there, cinching his eighth save of the season, extending the MoonDogs winning streak to five games in the process.

Pfaadt earned the win for Ryan Kragh and the MoonDogs, throwing three shutout frames. Matt Arens (Cal Poly) pitched a scoreless inning, while starter Adam Lukas (Evansville) did not factor into the decision.

The MoonDogs return home to put their five game winning streak on the line against the Loggers for the second game of a home and home series. First pitch is slated for 6:05 PM.

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.