By Connor Wachtel
Waterloo, Iowa – The Mankato MoonDogs scored four times in the second inning and it was all they’d need to complete a sweep of the Waterloo Bucks. Excellent starting pitching that nearly went the distance on Sunday afternoon was the difference maker for the Dogs in a 4-2 final.
BOX SCORE: Mankato 4, Waterloo 2
The Dogs scored first on Sunday with four runs in the second. Garrett Gilbert (Creighton) slapped a bases-clearing double then, Nick Novak (Angelo State) plated an RBI of his own with a base knock. The score was 4-0 after the second in favor of Mankato.
Patrick Ferguson (Kent State) and Mike Nyisztor (Rutgers) knocked the ball around a bit near the end. Each recorded RBI singles, one came in the eighth and the other in the ninth. However, it wasn’t enough to hold off the Dogs as Mankato completed the sweep with the 4-2 series finale win in Waterloo.
Player Notables:
Novak and Gilbert were the offensive forces on Sunday afternoon. Novak went 2-3 with an RBI and two free passes. Gilbert had the game-winning hit in the second, a bases-clearing RBI double that scored three.
The win went to Mankato’s southpaw, Shane Barringer (Bellarmine), after he pitched an electrifying eight innings. He gave up six hits and a run while walking and striking four out. Then Brett Newberg (Austin Peay) came in for his 2nd relief appearance of the summer. The fourth-year veteran was looking to keep his save percentage perfect as a reliever in 2019, he did just that. Newberg surrendered a run but got the job done while allowing a pair of hits. He walked one a struck out one.
The loss went to Waterloo’s starting arm, Noah Conlon (UC- San Diego), after he went 5.2 frames on Sunday. Conlon surrendered four runs, seven hits, walked three and retired four on strikes.
Due up for the Dogs:
Tomorrow night, the Mankato MoonDogs (32-34) are back at The Frank to play host to the St. Cloud Rox (42-23). The scheduled arm for the Dogs is Newberg. He will dish out the first pitch to get the game underway at 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.
