By Connor Wachtel
St. Cloud, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs took game two and the two-game series sweep over the St. Cloud Rox on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 10-7 after the Dogs battled through a pair of deficits in the game and held on for the win.
BOX SCORE: Mankato 10, St. Cloud 7
Gus Steiger (South Dakota State) got the scoring started for St. Cloud in the bottom of the first. He did it with a sacrifice fly that scored Brady Harlan (Oklahoma) and gave the Rox an early 1-0 lead.
The MoonDogs responded quickly in the next half inning by plating three runs. Sean Ross (Pensacola) got it started with a base knock that scored Garrett Gilbert (Creighton). Two at bats later, Tyler Casagrande (Arizona) roped another RBI single for the Dogs to score two more. Mankato held a 3-1 lead after the second frame.
In the third the Rox cut the Dogs lead in half with a double from Jordan Barth’s (Univ. of Minn.) bat to score Steiger.
The fifth inning saw St. Cloud take the lead back with a trio of runs. A pair of singles and an infield putout each scored a run to give St. Cloud a 5-3 lead after five.
Mankato took the lead back in the sixth with explosive offense. A leadoff double by Adan Fernandez (FIU) got the Dogs going as it was followed up by Cuba Bess (Grand Canyon) moving him over with a single. The innings first RBI went to Gilbert after he notched his first of the day after hitting into a fielder’s choice. In the next at bat Ross went deep in the form of a two-run home run that gave the MoonDogs a 6-5 lead. After a Rox pitching change, a sequence of singles and walks led to the bases loaded. An error, a hit by pitch and a walk each scored another run to give Mankato an 9-5 lead before the six-run inning came to a close.
Casagrande added another insurance run in the seventh frame. He did it with a round tripper. The solo home run gave the Dogs a 10-5 lead after seven.
St. Cloud mounted a rally in the ninth but couldn’t round up five in total and fell to the MoonDogs in a 10-7 final after scoring two in the ninth.
Player Notables:
Casagrande was locked in at the plate for Mankato, going 4-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and a home run.
MoonDogs starter, Carter Rustad (San Diego), threw four innings on Sunday and gave up a pair of runs and four hits in the no decision. Earning the win was Conner Campbell (Lander) after he came in to close out the fifth and worked through the sixth. After throwing 1.2 innings of baseball he held the Rox to no runs on two hits, a walk and a pair of strikeouts. Jaxon Passino (Kansas State) relieved Campbell in the seventh and went two complete innings not allowing a hit or run and struck out the side in the seventh.
Handed the loss was St. Cloud’s relief pitcher, Lucas Gather (California – Berkeley), in the process of retiring one on Sunday he surrendered a hit and two runs scored.
Due up for the Dogs:
The Mankato MoonDogs (15-19) head back to The Frank to play host to the Eau Claire Express (16-17) tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato, 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.
