By Connor Wachtel
St. Cloud, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs shutout the St. Cloud Rox for the win in game one on Saturday evening. The final score was 4-0 after solid performance from the Dogs arms was the difference.
BOX SCORE: Mankato 4, St. Cloud 0
Mankato got the scoring started in the third when Dayton Dooney (Arizona) clubbed a double that scored Nick Novak (Angelo State). In the next at bat, Cuba Bess (Grand Canyon) notched an RBI after hitting a single to score Dooney. The MoonDogs held a 2-0 lead after the third.
The MoonDogs doubled their lead in the eighth with a two-run home run from Mikey Perez (UCLA) that also scored Damon Maynard (Olney Central CC). It upped the Dogs lead to 4-0.
Player Notables:
The big bat for Mankato came from Dooney who turned in the game-winning RBI double that scored the game’s first run. Overall, he went 2-5 with the RBI and a run.
Earning the win was the southpaw Jack Schneider (Grand Canyon) after he threw eight innings of shutout baseball. The starter surrendered six hits and struck out five Rox hitters in the win. Jacob Nagel (Bellarmine) came in for relief in the eighth and went the distance to close out the game. Nagel allowed two hits and struck out one.
The loss went to the Rox starter Cam Kline (Minnesota State – Mankato). He went seven complete innings and was hit off eight times for two runs. He struck out five MoonDogs along the way.
Due up for the Dogs:
Tomorrow the Mankato MoonDogs (14-19) play the St. Cloud Rox (19-13) in a the two-game series finale. Starting for the Dogs on the mound will be Carter Rustad (San Diego) making his second start of the season. First pitch is slated for 4:05 p.m. at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn.
###
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.
