By Connor Wachtel
Eau Claire, Wis. – The Mankato MoonDogs played the Eau Claire Express in game two at Carson Park on Sunday afternoon. The Express completed the two-game sweep over the Dogs with a 2-1 win in extras.
BOX SCORE: Eau Claire 2, Mankato 1
The MoonDogs got on the board first in the second. Nick Novak (Angelo State) drew a walk with the bases loaded and allowed Mikey Perez (UCLA) to score with ease. However, the Express evened the score in the bottom half after Sam Kohnle (Winona State) notched an RBI single to make it 1-1.
It took extra innings to declare a winner in Eau Claire on Sunday and the Express prevailed in the tenth. Vincent Martinez (Stanford) started the inning at second via the international tie breaker rule. He moved over to third on an infield single. Later on, a bases-loaded walk meandered the winning run in for the Express. They won 2-1 in 10 innings.
Player Notables:
Player of the game for the Dogs was Perez. He went 1-2 with Mankato’s only run scored. He also walked twice.
After Eau Claire’s starter went 4.2 innings, in relief, Rece Finck (Illinois – Springfield) finished the final 5.1 innings. He earned the win after he was hit off only once and struck out two MoonDogs batters.
Mankato’s starter Josh Ramirez (Washburn) went 5.2 innings. He surrendered seven hits and one run while walking five and striking out four in the no decision. Conner Campbell (Lander) relieved Ramirez in the sixth. He worked through the eighth allowing one hit, a pair of free passes and a strikeout.
Due up for the Dogs:
Tomorrow the Mankato MoonDogs (27-31) are back at The Frank to play host to the St. Cloud Rox (37-20). It will be a day-night doubleheader. The first game, at 12:05 p.m., Fabian Muniz (Angelo State) will do the pitching. In game two, at 6:35 p.m., Shane Barringer (Bellarmine) will be the starter. Both games will be at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato, Minn.
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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.
