August 6, 2021
By: Mitchell Speltz
Waterloo, IA – The Mankato MoonDogs (38-21) fell in back-to-back games at Riverfront Stadium against the Waterloo Bucks (38-23) on Friday, 8-5.
The Bucks struck first in the opening frame with an RBI double by Max Jung-Goldberg (San Diego) to score Josh Kasevich (Oregon) from first base, making it 1-0 Waterloo.
Mankato got those runs back in the third on a two-run single by Matt Higgins (Bellarmine) put the MoonDogs in front 2-1 as Justin Boyd (Oregon State) and Evan Berkey (Evansville) both came home on the play.
But Waterloo came back with a counter punch in the bottom of the frame as they scored twice on back-to-back sacrifice flies to retake the lead 3-2.
Carson Yates (UCLA) continued the back-and-forth battle as he launched a solo homerun over the left-field wall to tie the game. His first long ball of the summer.
The MoonDogs added on in the fifth inning as Max Crabbe (Texas State) made his arrival known with a two-run single to give Mankato a 5-3 lead in the fifth.
Bottom of the inning, Waterloo snatched the lead back on a base-hit that scored three by Mike Campagna (UC-Davis) to make it a 6-5 Bucks advantage.
For good measure, Waterloo added another run in the seventh and eighth inning to make it 8-5.
That would hold as the final score as the Bucks picked up the sweep against the Moondogs. Aaron Treloar (Glendale College) was the winning pitcher with Adam LaRock (UW-Milwaukee) taking the loss. Zach Button (Cal-Poly) picked up saves in back-to-back games to earn his fourth of the summer.
Mankato will look to hit the reset button on Saturday as they face the Willmar Stingers at Bill Taunton Stadium. Nolan Pender (Bellarmine) gets the ball for the MoonDogs against Kellen Brothers (Oklahoma Wesleyan) for Willmar. First pitch is at 7:05 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.
