By Connor Wachtel
Rochester, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs surrendered the lead in the middle innings on Thursday night to the Rochester Honkers. It ended up costing the Dogs their 30th win as they went on to fall in 5-4 final score at Mayo Field.
BOX SCORE: Rochester 5, Mankato 4
Josh Elvir (Angelo State) got Mankato on the board first when he blasted his 9th home run of the summer. It was a two-run round tripper that also scored Adan Fernandez (Nova Southeastern) and gave the Dogs a 2-0 advantage after the first.
An RBI single from Damon Maynard (Olney Central CC) added a third run to the Dogs score in the second.
The MoonDogs walked in another score to their early lead with a bases-loaded free pass drawn by Jake Moberg (UCLA) in the third. It upped the MoonDogs lead to 4-0 through three at Mayo Field.
Rochester’s Ryan Ober (Oregon State) got the Honkers on the board in the fourth inning. He hit a three-run home run that cut the lead to just one at a 4-3 margin.
The Honkers picked up where they left off in the fifth with another pair of runs to take their first lead of the evening. Andy Armstrong (Oregon State) recorded the base knock, it scored both runs to make it a 5-4 lead in favor of Rochester. The Honkers eventually held on to win with the one-run advantage.
Player Notables:
Elvir led the Dogs with a 1-3 night that saw him drive in two runs with the two-run home run in the first inning.
Rochester’s starter, Evan Layne (Lake Erie College), threw three frames on Wednesday en route to a no decision. The Dogs jumped on the southpaw early and forced him out of the game after hitting off him five times for four runs (three earned). He walked two and retired four on strikes. In relief, Anthony Rodriguez (Monroe College) earned the win after he threw a scoreless, and hitless, seventh and eighth innings. He struck out one along the way. The save went to Keon Taylor (Georgetown College), he struck out one in the ninth.
Conner Campbell (Lander) was the starting arm for the Dogs on Wednesday night. He was handed the loss after he pitched five frames and surrendered six hits for five runs (four earned). Campbell also walked three and doubled it up with six strikeouts. Jesse Parker (Lewis – Clark State College) came in for relief work in the sixth and went the distance. He allowed four hits and struck out a trio of Rochester hitters.
Due up for the Dogs:
Tomorrow marks game two of the series between the Mankato MoonDogs (29-34) and Rochester Honkers (34-29) at Mayo Field. Josh Ramirez (Washburn) is scheduled to do the pitching for the Dogs in the game on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
###
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.
