Written by Connor Wachtel

MANKATO, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs stunned the Minnesota Mud Puppies, 10-1, Thursday night at ISG Field.

 

With the win, the MoonDogs now grasp a 25-22 overall and 6-7 second-half record. The Mud Puppies, now 6-18, are now 0-7 in the second half following their seventh consecutive loss.

 

After Simon Scherry (Evansville) doubled to right-center to open the bottom half of the second inning, Orlando Salinas (Kansas State) chopped a single over the second baseman’s head to make it a 1-0 ballgame.

 

After the MoonDogs tacked on five more runs in the third inning with some help from a costly two-base error, Salinas struck again for Mankato in the bottom half of the fifth with a solo shot to center. Salinas’ third blast of the summer extended the MoonDogs lead to 7-0 after five innings of play.

 

 

After Mankato plated another pair of runs in the sixth as well as one more in the seventh, they rode the double-digit lead to a 10-2 victory after Mud Puppies’ first baseman Cam Hunter (Highland CC) homered down the leftfield line and an error allowed Gunnar Wicklund (USciences) to score an unearned run. The pair of runs in the ninth were Minnesota’s only notched runs in the 10-2 ballgame.

 

Drew Buhr (Bellarmine) was the MoonDogs’ starting pitcher, Thursday night. In Buhr’s eighth showing of the summer, he improved to 4-0 after dealing out six shutout innings with two hits and two walks surrendered. He struck out seven total batters along the way. In relief, Thomas Bruss (Augustana), Michael Gurka (Minnesota) and Cal Barna (Folsom Lake College) helped take down the Mud Puppies.

 

The MoonDogs rematch the Mud Puppies on Friday night at ISG Field. Donovan Schultz (Evansville) is slated to deliver the game’s first pitch at 6:35 p.m. as Mankato’s probable starting arm.   

-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.