Written by: Connor Wachtel
MANKATO, Minn. – During a crazy Monday night at ISG Field, which featured a pregame rain delay and ninth-inning light outage, the Mankato MoonDogs opened the 2022 campaign on a winning note with an 8-2 victory over the Duluth Huskies in a Northwoods League baseball game.
With the victory, the MoonDogs opened the season on a winning note to improve to 1-0 for a second straight season. Losing game one of the series, the Huskies now stand 0-1 on the year.
The MoonDogs opened the scoring during the second inning of Monday’s NWL Opening Day matchup. After Nick Altermatt reached second on a double slapped into the alley in left-center, Drew Buhr blooped a single to left that hopped over the leftfielder and allowed Altermatt to score from second. After two innings in Mankato, the MoonDogs led the Huskies, 1-0.
Sean Ross added to the MoonDogs lead with another pair of runs to make it 3-0 courtesy of a two-run home run, Mankato’s first homer of the season, over ISG Field’s monster fence in left. After three innings, the score was 3-0.
The Huskies entered the score column on fielder’s choice putout in the top of the fifth inning. It was Noah Marcelo who batted in Jake Schelonka to shrink the deficit to 3-1 in the fifth.
In the eighth inning, the MoonDogs scored five more runs on four hits with help from one error. After eight innings at ISG Field, the MoonDogs led the Huskies 8-1.
After the Huskies scored one run and mounted a bases-loaded rally in the ninth, there was a light outage at the ballpark with two outs in a one-ball and one-strike count. After a 15-minute intermission that allowed the lights to warm back up, John Lundgren threw two more strikes up on the Huskies’ hitter to finish what he started by retiring the batter for his second strikeout for his first save of the season.
On the mound starting for Mankato, right-handed returning pitcher Nolan Pender, who is now off to a 1-0 start on the season, picked up the win after allowing one run in five and two-thirds innings pitched. He surrendered five hits while walking four and striking out seven Huskies’ hitters. In relief, Simon Gregerson finished the fifth inning and pitched the sixth, where he gave up one hit and struck out one.
Duluth’s starting pitcher Devin Dodson was handed the loss after pitching four frames where he was hit off four times for three runs while walking a pair and striking out five along the way.
Mankato outhit Duluth, 13-8, to open the series and kick off the season on a winning note. The Huskies found themselves riddled by errors in a 3-1 margin, which resulted in three unearned runs crossing the plate in the contest. The Huskies left 11 runners aboard on the night to the MoonDogs’ 10 that were stranded.
The MoonDogs and Huskies rematch in Mankato on Tuesday night for the two-game series finale 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’ 28th 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 280 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist 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 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. 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.
