By Connor Wachtel

Mankato, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs overcame the Thunder Bay Border Cats in a comeback win on Friday night. The final score was 4-2 as the Dogs notched their 5th win of the season.

 

BOX SCORE: Mankato 4, Thunder Bay 2

The Border Cats got the scoring started in the third inning with Karsten Vasquez (Sacramento City College) singling to score Bryce Jorgenson (Minnesota – Crookston).

In the next inning, The Border Cats cashed in on some fielding errors by the MoonDogs for an unearned sacrifice fly run to up their lead to 2-0. Thunder Bay would hold onto their lead until the fifth.

Then Mankato got the bats going when Nick Novak (Angelo State) roped a two-run single to tie the game. Scoring on the play was Peter Brookshaw (North Dakota State) and Damon Maynard (Olney Central CC).

With the game tied at two a side, Sky-lar Culver (Arkansas State) decided he wanted to be the player of the game. He launched a double into the gap to score James Gargano (Butler) and Dayton Dooney (Arizona) in the seventh. It marked the game-winning hit as the Dogs went on to win by a 4-2 score.

 

Player Notables:

Culver and Novak had a night, both going 1-4 with two-run hits.

Earning the win was the MoonDogs right-hander, Tyler Lesley (Angelo State), who threw eight innings of five-hit baseball. He allowed two runs, neither of which were earned, and struck out five guys. The MoonDogs righty, Hayden Juenger (Missouri State), earned the save in the ninth as he struck out two Border Cat hitters.

Thunder Bay’s starter was Joey Hecht (Daytona State – Florida), he pitched 3.1 innings where he surrendered a hit and two walks. Handed the loss was Austin Eggleston (Friends University – Kansas), who came in for relief of Hecht. He went 2.1 innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He also walked one and struck out three.

 

Due up for the Dogs:

The MoonDogs (5-6) play host to the Border Cats (3-8) again tomorrow night in game two of the two-game series. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. at Franklin Rogers Park.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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,  225 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), World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS) and MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.