Photo captured by Dylan Engel (Mankato MoonDogs)
Written by Jacob Toepfer
BISMARCK, N.D. – The Mankato MoonDogs shutout the Bismarck Larks, 11-0, in a Northwoods League Baseball Game played at Bismarck Municipal Park, Wednesday night.
MoonDogs snapped their three-game losing streak with the win to improve to 22-20 on the season as well as 3-5 in the second half. With the loss, the Larks fell to 14-28 and 3-6 in the second half.
The offensive exploded Wednesday for 11 runs, following a night where it was shutout. The top batters were Sean Ross (Indiana State) and Kai Roberts (Utah). Both Ross and Roberts were two-for-four in the series finale against the Larks with a home run.
The scoring started in the top of the first when Ross reached on a walk and was later knocked in by Derek Shoen (UMary) for a 1-0 lead. Orlando Salinas (Kanas State) led off the second inning with a walk and scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. After two innings of play in Bismarck, the MoonDogs led the Larks 2-0.
In the fifth, the MoonDogs tacked on three more runs with a pair of back-to-back long balls. After Dustin Crenshaw (Grand Canyon) reached to open the inning, Ross hit his team-high seventh home run of the season over the leftfield fence for two runs. In the next at bat, Roberts hit his first home run of the summer out to right to make it 3-0.
The MoonDogs went on to score six more runs throughout the final four innings. Ross and Roberts finished the contest combined for seven RBI.
Drew Buhr (Bellarmine) picked up the win and improved to 3-0 following a masterful day. He threw six strong innings and struckout eight in the big start. Tasei Yahiro (Grand Canyon) pitched two innings to maintain the shutout before Michael Gurka (Minnesota) came in and shut things down in the ninth.
The MoonDogs continue their five-game road trip in Duluth at Wade Stadium Thursday against the Huskies 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.
