MoonDogs Drop Third Straight in Battle with Larks Tuesday

The Larks grabbed an early 1-0 lead by scoring on a double play in the first. The lead held until the bottom of the second when Matt Higgins (Bellarmine) tied the game by scoring on a wild pitch after hitting a leadoff double in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1.

An RBI single and ground out gave the Larks the lead in the ninth. The MoonDogs struggled to find an answer in the bottom half as the Larks held on to win 3-1.

Both sides had five hits and no errors in the ballgame. Mankato had seven runners stranded in the game while Bismarck left four runners on.

Ivran Romero (Univ. of San Diego) made his MoonDogs debut at ISG Field, Tuesday. He threw six complete innings en route to a no-decision in which he gave up one run on two hits and struck out six. Peyton Jones (Cal State Fullerton) finished the game with the loss to fall to 0-1 after allowing the eventual winning run aboard in the top of the ninth. He allowed one hit and a pair of runs while striking one out in his debut.

For the Larks, Ryan Carmack was the starting arm and pitched six innings in Tuesday’s affair. Carmack walked one and struck out eight while surrendering four hits and a run. In relief, Justin Goldstein worked his way to a win (1-0) following his two-shutout innings in relief where he gave up one hit, walked one and got one with a strikeout. Ryan Bourassa earned his first save of the season, shutting the door on the MoonDogs in the ninth with two strikeouts.

The MoonDogs host the Larks again Wednesday at ISG Field with the first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.

-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.