Photo captured by Mansoor Ahmad/Mankato MoonDogs
By: Connor Wachtel
MANKATO, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs (36-18) were defeated, 5-3, in a Northwoods League contest against the Waterloo Bucks (33-21), Thursday night at ISG Field.
The MoonDogs cracked the score column first in Mankato, Thursday night. It was thanks to Alex Baeza (Utah) after he hit his second home run of the summer. The two-run homer, which sailed over the videoboard in right field, also scored Jack Costello (San Diego) to give Mankato a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
In response, the Bucks quickly tied the game in the top of the third with two runs of their own.
It took until the five innings for the 2-2 tie to break when the Bucks came out of the eighth with the lead after outscoring the MoonDogs three runs to one.
In the ninth, the MoonDogs mounted a last-chance rally and loaded the bases but failed to tally runs and ultimately fell by a final score of 5-3, Thursday night at ISG Field.
Despite dropping the contest by two runs, the MoonDogs outhit the Bucks 7-6. Errors rattled Mankato, who finished the night with two while the opposing Bucks had one miscue in the contest.
FINAL | Waterloo 5, Mankato 3
The #MoonDogs drop just their sixth game at home and now ride a 21-6 record at ISG Field this season. @jkrzyz99 threw five complete innings in his final outing for the Dogs.
His line: 2 H, 2 R, 5 BB and 3 K.
Thank you, Jarret!#BounceBackDogs pic.twitter.com/TmuhqykZH2
— Mankato MoonDogs (@MankatoMoonDogs) July 30, 2021
Making his final start of the 2021 campaign was MoonDogs’ returning right-hander Jarret Krzyzanowski (Nova Southeastern). In the non-decisive outing, Krzyzanowski was hit off twice and allowed a pair of runs while walking five and retiring three on strikes. The loss went to Mankato’s Caleb Heuertz (Midland College) after he was responsible for the winning runs that eventually scored in the top of the eighth inning. Heuertz now rides a 1-1 record in the 2021 campaign.
The MoonDogs and Bucks rematch for the series finale in Mankato, Thursday at 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.