Written by Connor Wachtel
WATERLOO, Iowa – For the third straight night, the Mankato MoonDogs scored double-digit runs to pick up their third consecutive victory when they defeated the Waterloo Bucks 19-14 at Riverfront Stadium, Saturday night.
With their third win in a row, the MoonDogs now stand 31-24 overall with a 12-9 mark in the second-half standings. The Bucks are now 14-41 and 5-16 in the second half.
The MoonDogs weren’t shy of displaying offense Saturday night and scored a run in every inning but the ninth. By the time the Bucks picked up their first run, the MoonDogs were already way out in front with a 12-0 advantage. However, in a crazy turn of events, momentum shifted in favor of Waterloo by the sixth inning and saw them claw back from a 15-1 deficit. In the sixth and seventh frames, Waterloo edged out Mankato in runs by 5-4 and 8-2 margins to shrink the deficit to just four runs. After seven innings, the MoonDogs led the Bucks 18-14.
In the top of the eighth inning, Charles McAdoo (San Jose State) launched a solo home run to make it 19-14. He was one of four MoonDog batters to sport a three-RBI evening. Among the others were: Brendan Hord (Evansville), Orlando Salinas (Kansas State) and Joel Vaske (Southeast Missouri State).
Mankato ultimately held on to take down Waterloo 19-14 in the series opener at Riverfront Stadium.
Picking up the win to improve to 5-0 in his final outing of the season as a MoonDog, Drew Buhr (Bellarmine) pitched five frames with three hits and a run against while walking four and striking out two along the way.
To view the box score, click HERE.
The MoonDogs take on the Bucks again Sunday at 2:35 p.m. for a matinee rematch at Riverfront Stadium to wrap up the series.
-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.