Written by: Reese Lannon

Photo by: Kenzie Schmidt

The Minnesota Mud Puppies had the highest single-game run total in the NWL entering
Sunday’s slate of games. That would change by the end of the day.

The Mankato MoonDogs ripped the cover off the baseball all afternoon against the Rochester
Honkers at Mayo Field to put an exclamation point on a sweep of the Honkers, with the black
and orange winning 20-9.

The MoonDogs scored two runs in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third, three in
the fourth, two in the fifth, one in the sixth, and seven in the ninth to blow the Honkers out of the
water.

Mankato scored their two in the first inning on a SAC fly by Nolan Tichy (UMass) and an RBI
single from Max Williams (Florida State). In the second, a bases-loaded walk to force in a run by
Nolan Tichy and then an error brought three more across, before Rochester answered making it
5-1 after two innings.

In the third, back-to-back RBI doubles would extend the lead once more, with Jackson Cooke
(UT-Martin) ripping one and then followed by one by Dustin Crenshaw (Grand Canyon). An
inning later, Joe Hauser (Minnesota) brought in a run on an RBI single, and then two batters
later, Cooke cracked another double, scoring two more and making it 10-3 after four innings.

The MoonDogs got additional insurance in the fifth, with Tichy going the opposite way for a
two-run home run to make it 12-3, before Rochester answered with a pair in the bottom of the
inning. Following another RBI double by Crenshaw, Rochester broke through for a four-run
sixth inning, and brought it to a 13-9 game.

The following two frames were dominated by pitching, with Brady Banker (Illinois) coming out
of the bullpen to fire three scoreless frames overall, picking up the save on what was a rough
night for the Mankato pitching staff.

In the ninth, the MoonDogs completely put the game to bed. They struck for seven runs
including a Brendan Hord (Evansville) two-runs single, a Williams RBI double, a wild pitch
plating Williams, and RBI double by Hauser, an RBI double by Mikey Gottschalk (MSU-
Mankato) and an RBI single by Crenshaw. Crenshaw had an unbelievable game, going 3/3 with
two doubles, three RBI, and four walks, reaching base seven times.

In the victory, the Dogs amassed a whopping nine doubles, the most hit by any NWL team this
season as well as 19 hits and eight walks. Crenshaw, Hord, Williams, Gottschalk, and Cooke all
collected three hits apiece. The MoonDogs are back in action tomorrow night in Willmar to take
on the Stingers. For more information, visit mankatomoondogs.com