Written by Connor Wachtel

MANKATO, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs were defeated 6-3 by the La Crosse Loggers for a split of a two-game Northwoods League baseball series, Tuesday night at ISG Field.

 

The MoonDogs, who now stand 27-23 overall, are back to .500 in the second-half standings at 9-9. The Loggers are now 27-25 with an 11-7 record in the second half.

 

In the third at bat of the game, Xavier Casserila (Wichita State) put the Loggers in the score column first with an RBI double to center. The Loggers went on to make it a three-run inning by also scoring on a passed ball and sacrifice fly batted to right by Dylan King (North Carolina). The MoonDogs answered with a run of their own off the bat of Brendan Hord (Evansville). His base knock blooped to left and allowed Kai Roberts (Utah) to score after he doubled earlier in the inning. After one inning at ISG Field, the Loggers led the MoonDogs 3-1.

 

After the MoonDogs closed the gap to one run by scoring one in the bottom half of the third, the Loggers plated a pair of runs to extend their lead back to three in the top half of the fourth frame. After four innings at ISG Field, the MoonDogs trailed the Loggers 5-2.

 

Once both sides picked up a run between the fifth and seventh innings, the MoonDogs still found themselves trailing the Loggers by three, 6-3.

 

Mankato mounted a bases-loaded rally in the eighth with no outs but failed to get a run across. In the ninth, the MoonDogs had one two-out hit but were held in check there as the Loggers prevailed 6-3 to salvage a split of the two-game series in the finale.

 

On the mound for the Loggers, Eldridge Armstrong (San Diego State), now 1-1, picked up the win while Dylan Lapic (MATC) picked up a two-inning save, which was his first of the summer.

 

John Lundgren (Illinois) pitched four complete innings as the MoonDogs’ starting pitcher Tuesday night. Lundgren was handed the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season after he was hit off seven times for five runs while walking one and striking out seven along the way.

 

The MoonDogs head to Rochester next following their off-day Wednesday for a Thursday date with the Honkers at Mayo Field 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.