By Connor Wachtel
Eau Claire, Wis. – The Mankato MoonDogs dropped game two of the series and were defeated in a sweep via the Eau Claire Express. The final score was 11-3 on Tuesday in Mankato, Minn.
BOX SCORE: Eau Claire 11, Mankato 3
Mankato got out to a fast start, scoring a pair in the bottom of the first frame. It came from a home run by Josh Elvir (Angelo State). His 3rd bomb of the season gave the Dogs an early 2-0 lead.
Eau Claire popped off in the top of the third for four runs. An RBI single by Matt Bottcher (Illinois – Chicago) scored the first run. Then another single cleared the bases a few batters later. The hit came off Vincent Martinez’s (Stanford) bat and gave Eau Claire a 4-2 lead.
Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) insured the Express lead in the fourth by driving in Brandon Dieter (Stanford). It was an RBI single that extended the game’s score to 5-3.
The MoonDogs cut the deficit in half in the bottom half. Elvir got it done again with another RBI hit to score Nick Novak (Angelo State). The MoonDogs trailed 4-3 after four.
From that point of the Express ran away with the game. They scored six more runs that went unanswered for the sweep after the 11-3 final.
Player Notables:
Elvir had a night, driving in each of Mankato’s three runs. He finished the night 3-3 with a home run and three RBI.
Earning the win was Eau Claire’s starter, Matt Verdun (Lewis), who went seven complete innings allowing three runs and five hits. He walked three and struck out seven.
The loss went to Brett Newberg (Austin Peay), who’s now 2-2 on the year, after he pitched seven innings in his 5th start of the season. Newberg surrendered five runs and seven hits. He walked one and struck out five.
Due up for the Dogs:
Up next for the Mankato MoonDogs (15-21) is the Bismarck Larks (19-16) on the road. First pitch between the MoonDogs and Larks is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark in Bismarck, N.D.
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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.
