By: Connor Wachtel

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Mankato’s southpaw Owen Boerema (Northwestern – St. Paul) was the star of the show in the MoonDogs’ 6-1 win on the road at Eau Claire, Saturday night. 

 

The Litchfield, Minn., native led the way on the hill for the MoonDogs (5-1) as they overcame the Express (1-5), throwing seven complete innings of shutout no-hit baseball. Along the way, Boerema walked three with six strikeouts in his Northwoods League debut to move to a 1-0 record. In the end, it was a combined one-hitter between Boerema and relief arm John Lundgren (North Alabama) that secured the MoonDogs’ fifth win of the campaign. 

 

Offensively for the MoonDogs, Matt Higgins (Bellarmine) had another big night when he went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. He finished the two-game series with six hits in 11 at bats, two doubles and three RBI. MoonDogs’ catcher Austin Garrett (Kansas State) also had a big 3-for-4 evening Sunday which featured an RBI.  

 

While pitching held EC to one hit in the win, Mankato swung it well with 12 hits in the victory. Both sides had two errors in the contest.  

 

In relief of Boerema due to his pitch count, another southpaw in Lundgren worked the eighth and ninth frames for the MoonDogs. Lundgren allowed one run in the appearance on an RBI groundout. He walked one in what was his third outing of the summer. 

 

The loss went to EC starting arm Garret Reisz, who fell to 0-1 on the season. Reisz pitched three innings of four-run five-hit baseball.  

 

The Mankato MoonDogs will now pack up shop and make their way to La Crosse for a pair of evenings at Copeland Park with the Loggers, game one starts at 5:05 p.m. Sunday. 

 

-DOGS- 

The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods 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, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.mankatomoondogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.